Stepway is set to step away from Sandero

THE new-car market moves fast.

- Sean Carson

After 10 years in the UK, Dacia is on a quest to reinvent itself, moving the brand away from its original 'budget' image towards 'value' - and key to that change will be a range of brand-new models.

We'll see the Romanian brand's Bigster full-size SUV arrive in 2025, crowning the line-up and allowing the next-generation Duster (set for a 2024 reveal) to grow in size. This will leave a space between the Duster and the brand's Sandero supermini which, in time, could be filled by a bona fide small SUV - an evolution of the firm's more off-road-inspired Sandero Stepway.

Speaking to Auto Express, Dacia's senior vice president, sales, marketing and operations, Xavier Martinet, said "We're actually trying to separate the Sandero and Sandero Stepway. It's something we've been doing regularly." He added: "We feel there's space to differentiate them more, so this is something we will investigate between the Stepway and the Duster." 

As a result, expect the next-generation Stepway to take a sizeable step towards SUV camp, as our exclusive image shows. It will take elements of Dacia's recent rebrand when it comes to the treatment of the logo, headlights and grille, and mix these with styling cues inspired by the forthcoming Bigster flagship on a raised-up model around 4.1 metres long. This would put the newcomer at the heart of the compact SUV class as a rival to the likes of Ford's Puma and the segment-founding Nissan Juke.