New Dacia Bigster to get 4x4 hybrid tech with PHEV to follow in time

The new Dacia Bigster will be offered with a four-wheel-drive, full-hybrid powertrain before the end of the year, according to the brand’s CEO Denis Le Vot, and there’s also a possibility the range-topping SUV may receive a plug-in hybrid powertrain down the road.

When orders open for the Bigster in March, it’ll be available with a Hybrid 155 set-up that uses a new 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, which works together with an electric motor that can drive the front wheels only. 

The new 4x4 hybrid powertrain will get an additional electric motor on the rear axle to provide extra traction. The technology will be introduced on the Bigster’s little brother, the Dacia Duster, at the same time later this year, and does without the transfer boxes traditionally used by four-wheel-drive systems.

Dacia will continue its rollout of hybrid powertrains through 2025 and beyond, with the brand’s top boss confirming that the technology will be “growing more and more in the future”.

In an exclusive interview, Le Vot told Auto Express that his team will continue to utilise all the parts available to them, insisting that parent company Renault has “all the solutions” – from ICE (internal-combustion engines), to hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric.

“We recoup the assets developed by the [Renault] Group,” Le Vot told us. “We put them back and make our own soup with the leftovers. We make good business with that for us, and for the clients and we manage, as a whole, the CO2 emissions of the Group.”

Le Vot told us the 1.0-litre TCe turbo (as found in the Jogger and Duster) and even the 1.6 HEV are too small for the Bigster. It’s for this reason that Dacia is utilising the new 1.8-litre hybrid in its flagship SUV – an engine born from the so-called ‘Horse’ joint venture formed in 2024 by Renault and Geely to develop new electrified powertrains.

We asked Le Vot if there might be space for Renault Group, Dacia or Horse to develop a plug-in hybrid powertrain for the Bigster and he said: “We have plug-in hybrids in the company. PHEV is in the panorama, but maybe not tomorrow morning.”

So while a plug-in hybrid is possible – and likely – its introduction doesn’t appear imminent. In 2022, Dacias accounted for a significant 7.6 per cent of the European retail market, and with so few financial incentives available to private customers, there is seemingly less reason for Le Vot to push ahead with PHEV – at least while he’s able to pool Renault’s EV mix and meet the necessary ZEV (zero-emission vehicle) mandates.

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