Dacia's third-generation Duster to get Geneva unveiling

Dacia will debut its third-generation Duster at the 2024  Geneva auto show in February.

The small SUV is the Renault Group budget brand's No. 2 seller in Europe behind the Dacia Sandero small hatchback.

Renault brand also plans a key debut for Geneva, where it will unveil the R5 full-electric small car.

The Geneva show is scheduled to take place for the first time since 2019.

In the first nine months, Dacia increased European sales of the Sandero by 18 percent to 175,012 units, while the Duster grew by 7.5 percent to 122,203 units despite being near the end of its life cycle, figures from market researcher Dataforce show.

The new Duster will go on sale next spring. It will be underpinned by the CMF-B architecture that Renault shares with Nissan. The underpinnings are already used by Dacia on the Sandero and the Jogger compact SUV.

Dacia has built more than 2.2 million units of the Duster during the last 13 years. The first generation was launched in 2010, followed in 2017 by the second-generation model.

Renault Group plans to have a central role in the return of the Geneva show, which was plunged into crisis in March 2020 when a late decision by Swiss authorities forced the cancellation of the 90th edition of the event amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Between 30 and 40 automotive brands are expected to attend next year's show, organizers said, adding that a full list of exhibitors will be released about a month ahead of the show, which is scheduled to take place Feb. 26-March 3.

German automakers such as BMW and Audi have said they will skip the show.