Dacia Bigster priced from £25k
Big car, big boot and big ambition for Dacia's C-segment SUV - but a pleasingly little price
There’s always some trepidation writing about new car prices these days, what with everything seemingly about 15 per cent more than expected. We live in a world of £50k Civic Type Rs, £100,000 911 Carreras and Polo GTI RRPs beginning with a ‘3’, after all. And that’s just the start. So it’s reassuring to find that Dacia’s latest offering, the Bigster, looks as keen value as the rest of the range. Here, in 2025, is a family friendly SUV (don’t forget more than 600 litres of boot space for the pup) that starts at £25k. And while that’s for a model that nobody will buy, even the most powerful, most lavishly equipped Bigster is £29,495. A five-seat Skoda Kodiaq is from £37,860, a Sportage £29,890. Which Kia sold almost 50,000 of in the UK last year - so you can understand when Dacia calls its SUV ‘one of the most hotly anticipated cars to arrive this year’.
For £24,995, buyers will get a Bigster with the mild hybrid turbo triple and 140hp, which achieves more than 50mpg on the official test. A six-speed manual and front-wheel drive means just 1,350kg at the kerb, too. Expression spec is the kick-off trim, as with the rest of the Dacia range, and here includes 17-inch wheels, split-fold seats and the Dacia Media Display with wireless CarPlay/Android Auto. All Bigsters, in fact, get keyless entry, front and rear parking sensors, a 10.1-inch central touchscreen and a Multiview camera.
Expression trim is actually available across all Bigster powertrains for those who only need (or perhaps just want) the essentials. There’s an all-wheel drive option that keeps the manual and is rated at 130hp (plus just 1,428kg), as well as the 155hp hybrid that’s auto only. The Expression TCe 130 4x4 costs £27,195, the Hybrid 155 £27,995. All engines in all specs score less than 135g/km and more than 45mpg, with the hybrid obviously the most competitive there with 60.1mpg and 105g/km.
Journey specification starts at £26,245 and is offered only with the FWD engine options (140hp three-cylinder and 155hp hybrid). Said to be aimed at ‘buyers who want to travel in style’ (as opposed to the more overtly off-roady Extreme), Journey builds on the Expression equipment with 19-inch wheels, heated seats, wireless phone charging and an electric bootlid. There’s a £3k walk from the 140hp Journey to the 155hp hybrid version, as per the Expression, making it £29,245.
Given its popularity where offered elsewhere in Dacia’s portfolio, the Extreme spec for the Bigster looks like being the best seller. Built for outdoor enthusiasts, or certainly those folk that like to think they are, the Extreme gets 18-inch wheels (so smaller and less prone to damage than the Journey’s 19s), a pano roof, washable upholstery and Dacia’s modular roof bars that can sit longitudinally and crosswise. On which the Dacia Tent, roof rack or Sleep Pack can be mounted - you can see why people might want it. The Extreme line up costs £26,495 (TCe 140), £28,695 (TCe 130 4x4) or £29,495 (Hybrid 155).
The Bigster will be available in Indigo Blue (unique to this model), Glacier White, Terracotta, Shadow Grey, Cedar Green or Pearl Black, with the only option mentioned so far being a black roof for Journey and Extreme. Pre-orders are open now via a refundable £250 deposit - expect a competitive finance deal to follow along shortly…
But Renault look to be on a role currently. They seem to have understood how to fit the slow EV transition into their business, the rebranding of RenualtSport to make it more appealing to people with deeper pockets looks to be working and their Dacia brand for folk who don't wish to piss money away on a generic transport box seems good. And they're bailing on their Nissan holding which looks to have become an anchor rather than a driver of business.
So all in, Renault look to be a company that has its head screwed on and knows its various customer demographics so while calling a car the 'Bigster' might cause us to initially think they've made a silly mistake as it appears to be a silly name that would only appeal to silly people, the current evidence is that Renault haven't made a mistake and that this word won't be seen as silly by their known target demographic but alluring, exciting, dynamic, intrepid etc.
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