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Dacia Duster pick-up spotted in prototype guise

The rugged Dacia Duster SUV appears set to be turned into a useful new pick-up truck by the Romanian budget brand.


Images of a prototype version of the Dacia Duster pick-up have been uploaded to the Dacia Oltcit Aro Facebook page, and the number plates on the vehicle suggest the car is an official test model rather than a regular Duster that has been converted.

Renault Romania and coachbuilder Romturingia have collaborated on a conceptual pick-up model in the past, and this appears to be the next step in bringing the Subaru Brumby-like small ute to production.

The rear doors have been removed, making way for a small tray behind the single cab. The body sees some extra curvature between the wheels, while the black plastic body cladding of the regular car is accompanied by sill protection. The rear of the ute features a conventional drop-down tailgate, while the below image offers a glimpse at the rear windscreen protecting rail and the tub of the ute, which is lined in heavy duty plastic.

The previous pick-up that has been shown featured a 1.7-metre-long tray bed, and a payload of 400 kilograms. It's expected the new light-duty ute will offer similar capacities.

Dacia is a budget brand that utilises parts sourced from the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Indeed, Renault does sell the Duster in some markets wearing the diamond badge, while Nissan also offers the car badged as the Terrano.

As we've reported in the past, both Renault and Nissan will not offer the Duster or Terrano in Australia. Nissan Australia corporate communications general manager Peter Fadeyev said he had no knowledge of the car and said there were no plans for such a model in the Nissan range.

Renault Australia corporate communications and sponsorship manager Emily Fadeyev said: "At this time we have no plans to introduce the Dacia brand to Australia or any of the Dacia products".

The Dacia Duster pick-up is expected to debut at the 2014 Paris motor show in October.

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