Europe, I hope you’re listening!
After writing about the need for more diesel cars in North America yesterday, that got me thinking: what are some other cars we miss out on, that we really ought to have a crack at? So I decided to put together a list of five cars that automakers should really send over to us.
Continuing with Car of the Year nominees, here’s the second part. Family Car of the Year and Cheap Car of the Year are here.
Family Car of the Year
This is where we choose the ideal car for people with big families. Lots of space is an absolute must.
Fiat Doblo: Looks great, seats plenty of people, and it’s quite economical as well.
Toyota Sienna: The looks are a bit iffy in some places, but it promises sporty handling with a comfortable ride, great interior, and plenty of room.
Volvo XC60: A good looking car with a great, spacious interior. Very safe as well.
Vauxhall/Opel Insignia Sports Tourer: New Vauxhalls/Opels have said good bye to their old, conservative, ugly ancestors and buried them in the middle of nowhere. As a result they now make good cars and this good looking estate Insignia is one of them
Dacia Duster: A funky looking car with plenty of space, promising a low price tag.
Citroen C3 Picasso: Funky Citroen looks, with plenty of practicality and a reasonable price.
Cheap Car of the Year
These are cars for those of us who don’t want to, or simply can’t, spend too much money. Price range we set is $25,000 CAD and under.
Renault Twingo: A nice looking car with good handling and interior. Comes in a fantastic Renaultsport trim too.
Ford Fiesta: Ford has launched the new Fiesta hatch in 2008 in Europe but not in North America so we actually found an excuse to nominate it as it is a very, very good supermini.
Volkswagen Polo: This small, German hatchback has actually won the European Car of the Year Award, but that’s not important, as now it faces the most important test ever: Will it be our Cheap Car of the Year?
Renault, maker of all sorts of nice cars like the Dacia Duster shown above, is considering returning to North America, after a 22 year absence.
Talking to Wall Street Journal, Renault’s Gerard Detourbet, head of the entry-level vehicles division, said that the Dacia Duster is a car which will influence this decision. He says that if the car does well in Eastern Europe and South America, Renault would consider giving it a chance in the US.
They won’t be entering with just one car though, like they did in late 1982 with the Alliance. They intend to have a whole family of affordable vehicles. Besides the Duster, the Renault Logan is another car which could be part of this line-up. Both cars will likely be changed for the US market though.
Renault is also considering an appearance in Southeast Asia.
I’d love to see Renault here, providing that they bring cars such as the Twingo RS and Clio RS.
Source: Wall Street Journal via Autoblog
Prices haven't been released yet but expect it to be very good value for money.
More great news from the country I live in, Romania, Dacia has revealed their road-going crossover : the Duster. After announcing that they will race it in the Trophee Andros with ace racing driver Alain Prost at the wheel, Dacia has now officially revealed their biggest car yet.
It’s also Dacia’s first ever crossover and a project quite thoroughly developed. Development started with the Duster Concept released earlier this year and then the surprise announcement of it going ice racing. The Duster will be available in two-wheel drive as well as four-wheel drive. You will be able to choose from the 108bhp 1.6-litre 16V petrol engine or 84bhp and 104bhp 1.5-litre diesels. Quite asthmatic indeed but this car isn’t meant to be sporty or fast, it’s just made to give you exactly what you’ve paid for. It’s also quite a big car at 4.31 metres long and 1.82 metres wide but don’t think that it will be rubbish off-road as a result. Dacia say that it’s a genuine off-roader when equiped with 4wd as it has 20cm of ground clearance, a 30 degree approach angle and a 35 degree departure angle.
Dacia hasn’t said yet if they will send this in the UK as Renault (the company that owns the Dacia brand) decided they won’t ship it to the UK. However, they stated that the fact remains a possibility and if it they were to start selling cars there, they would only offer the Sandero and the Duster, not the Logan.
The Duster surprises us with funky details like this carved boot lid, a thing you don't expect from a car made on a budget.
A few weeks ago I wrote an article on the blog about the Dacia Duster Ice Racer that was set to race in the Trophee Andros cup. Well, the guys have been busy at work testing it, including former Formula 1 World Champion Alain Prost . As a result, we are now able to bring you some videos of the thing.
The new Duster racer is quite a beautiful machine.
Well great news indeed (at least for me), as Dacia has announced that it is set to race its Duster model in an ice racing series called Trophee Andros.