A CHEAPER 7-SEATER!
MoToRING into the high-tech all-electric future is all well and good, but it’s the here and now that is the most pressing concern for many growing families looking for a flexible car that will best suit their needs. Thankfully, amid all the talk of green and sustainable cars to come, there were also some practical, real-world cars at the IAA Mobility motor show in Munich which I attended this week, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her ‘farewell tour’ ahead of stepping down from the nation’s federal elections later this month.
Particularly eye-catching and easier on the pocket was the new budget-priced Dacia Jogger, set to be the uK’s cheapest and most affordable seven-seater SuV priced from about £13,000 when order books open in November, ahead of first uK deliveries in early 2022. And it’ll also be the first Dacia model to offer a hybrid option, says the Romanian firm which is the budget brand for French car giant Renault. The Jogger hybrid joins the line-up from 2023.
It’s aimed at people with an active lifestyle who need flexible space, whether for lugging sports kit, doing the school run and picking up extra passengers, taking the family on a staycation trip or lugging stuff home from the garden centre or Ikea.
The second-row seats fold down and the two third-row seats, weighing 10kg each, are easily removed, says Dacia. A five-seat version will also be available.
The front-seat backs have folding picnic tables. Integrated roof bars can take up to 80 kg.
The only power from launch will be a 1-litre three-cylinder turbocharged engine — either as a 108bhp TCe 110 petrol linked to a six-speed manual gearbox or as a frugal 99bhp TCe 100 Bi-Fuel which can switch between petrol and LPG and with both tanks filled can cover up to 621 miles.
From 2023, the hybrid with the same 1.6-litre petrol engine, dualelectric motor and 1.2kWh battery as the Renault Clio supermini, joins the line-up.