News

The Dacia Duster has been given two new and more powerful powertrain options.

The middle-rung 128bhp mild-hybrid has been boosted by 10bhp, thanks to a new iteration of its 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine.

This should slightly improve the car’s 0-62mph dash time of 9.9sec, while fuel economy remains the same at 52mpg. CO2 emissions are up by 1g/km to 122g/km. It retains its six-speed manual gearbox.

The range-topping 138bhp hybrid, meanwhile, has received a new 153bhp system that comprises a 109bhp four-cylinder petrol engine, a 49bhp electric motor, a starter-generator and a 1.4kWh battery pack, 0.2kWh larger than previously.

It achieves the same 58mpg as before but CO2 emissions are down by 7g/km to 105g/km.

Dacia has also introduced new interior upholstery for the Duster’s Journey trim level, as well as black 18in alloy wheels for Extreme trim.

Furthermore, Journey and Extreme models are now fitted with adaptive cruise control as standard.

Dacia has yet to publish pricing for the new Duster models but, given the upgrades, it is expected to rise slightly. For reference, the mild hybrid currently starts at £21,820, while the full hybrid starts at £24,830. 

Order books for the updated Duster will open in November.

The Mk3 Duster has been a “phenomenal success” for Dacia, UK brand director Luke Broad told Autocar earlier this year. He said: “The reception to the car has been phenomenal. Deliveries have shot up 22%. We’ve had to manage the volume of inquiries we were sending to dealers, because we didn’t want to overwhelm them with demand. It’s an unusual problem to have, but it’s a good problem to have.”

Porsche is set to break with 94 years of tradition in 2028 when it launches a replacement for the combustion-engined Macan, which will be its first production car with drive biased towards the front wheels.

The new SUV, known as M1 within Porsche circles, is a successor to the ICE Macan, which was pulled from sale in mainland Europe in July 2024 after it failed to meet new cybersecurity rules. Production of the model for other global markets, including the UK, will end next summer.

The M1 will be twinned with the third-generation Audi Q5 and sit on the Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) architecture of the pair’s Volkswagen Group parent.

It will also adopt the similarly sized Q5’s Quattro Ultra drive system. But instead of heavily re-engineering it to offer a rear-biased four-wheel drive system – as Porsche did with the first Macan – it will instead be used largely unmodified for cost reasons.

So, unlike the outgoing ICE Macan’s Porsche Traction Management set-up, which is engineered to send most of its power to the rear wheels, drive in the M1 will primarily be sent to the front axle, with the rear wheels engaging only when sensors detect impending traction loss, marking a radical shift in Porsche’s engineering philosophy.

The SUV will form part of the company’s bid to counter stalling sales and profits. The Q5 tie-up will help the new five-seater to be fast-tracked through development in response to weaker than expected demand for the electric Macan (25,884 global sales in the first half of 2025) and a general softening in the global uptake of electric cars.

Although the M1 is intended to occupy a similar market position to the first-generation Macan, it won’t be offered with an electric option. That space will continue to be filled by the Macan EV, which was launched last year.

The comprehensive rethink of Porsche’s future model line-up has been triggered by current market conditions, well-placed sources within the company have told Autocar.

Originally, Porsche had aimed to make 80% of its global sales electric by 2030. The Macan – which has long been its second-best-selling model, after the Cayenne – was earmarked to spearhead this EV push and Porsche made the second-generation version electric-only.

At the time, Porsche ruled out a combustion Macan successor, citing the prohibitive cost of developing two distinct versions. But amid a 67% year-on-year fall in pre-tax profits in the first half of 2025, a sharp 28% drop in China and rising US tariffs on European car imports, Porsche has elected to replace the combustion Macan with a new model instead.

Porsche CEO Oliver Blume confirmed the programme in July, describing the new SUV as a “very, very typical Porsche for this segment” and stressing that it will be “differentiated from the [electric] Macan”. He also noted that the M1’s short, three-year development was “speeding up the process” of bringing it to market. A new Porsche typically takes five years from concept to road.

To hit that deadline, the new model will lean heavily on the Q5. Sources say Porsche managers have already seen early design concepts, which outline an SUV with petrol power and mild-hybrid assistance, and a four-wheel drive system biased to the front axle. Plug-in hybrid and diesel variants are not planned.

The entry-level Q5 offers clues as to what to expect. It is powered by the group’s 2.0-litre hybrid turbo petrol four, producing 201bhp and 251lb ft, and drives through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Audi claims 0-62mph in 8.6sec and a 140mph top speed.

In time, a broader line-up of performance variants – badged S, GTS and Turbo – are expected to be offered. Higher-powered engines and adaptive chassis tuning are claimed to be under consideration.

A production location for Porsche’s new BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC rival has not yet been confirmed, although two sites are said to be under review. One is Audi’s San José Chiapa plant in Mexico, where the Q5 is built. The other is Porsche’s plant in Leipzig, Germany, which builds the ICE Macan.

Why Porsche is going for front-biased 4WD

For a company so deeply rooted in the philosophy of rear-wheel drive – hence the rear-axle bias to its four-wheel drive systems to date – Porsche’s decision to build its first production car with a front-drive bias marks a fundamental break with tradition.

Since its founding in 1931, it has engineered its road cars to channel power to the rear axle, either exclusively or primarily, in the pursuit of handling precision.

Even in shared-platform models like the original Macan, Porsche went to great lengths to rework the Audi Q5’s MLB architecture, introducing its own four-wheel drive system and suspension tuning. So why the shift now? 

Partly, it’s a matter of cost, bringing development efficiencies when aligned with Volkswagen Group platforms, such as PPC. In short, it will enable Porsche to develop its new entry-level SUV more quickly at a lower cost.

But market realities are an important factor too. In Porsche’s two largest markets, the US and China, buyers are becoming less concerned with performance and handling and more focused on space and comfort.

Add to that the increasing pressure of ever-tightening emissions regulations and the case for a front-biased 4WD system on its entry-level SUV is more compelling.

Volkswagen will reveal the ID Cross concept at the Munich motor show next week, previewing a supermini-sized electric crossover that will arrive at the end of 2026, priced from around £25k.

The EV has been named to clearly position it as an electric counterpart to the T-Cross, Volkswagen said on Wednesday.

This is mirrored by the production version of the ID 2all hatchback, which will take the ID Polo name.

It's part of a new naming strategy of well-known names adorning EVs in place of the numerical system that has been used since the ID 3 was revealed in 2018.

The concept will be unveiled on 7 September alongside a near-production camouflaged version of the ID Polo and the hot ID Polo GTI.

The ID Polo – set to start from £22k – and the ID Cross form half of Volkswagen Group’s new ‘Electric Urban Car Family’, which also includes the Skoda Epiq and Cupra Raval. 

Volkswagen head of design Andreas Mindt previously described the ID Cross as a "safe, confident, bold" design that is "simple, like the ID 2all [now ID Polo]", referencing how that concept apes the clean, simplistic cues of previous Golf and Polo models. 

Indeed, the resemblance to the supermini is obvious, although the higher-riding SUV will have a more upright silhouette with bulkier wheel arches, a distinctive vent-style motif on the C-pillar (which could be glass on the production car) and a chunky rear spoiler. There will be no obvious visual links between this new SUV and today's ID 4 and ID 5, as Mindt looks to usher in a whole new brand image. 

It will measure around 4.1m long, have a wheelbase of 2600mm and offer more than the ID 2's 490 litres of boot space - no doubt with the same 50-litre lockable box under the boot floor for charging cables and valuables. 

Inside, it's expected to be all but identical to the ID Polo, with a 12.9in infotainment touchscreen and 10.9in digital driver display - while adopting physical switches for the audio and climate controls.

Volkswagen is aiming to eradicate all glue and hard plastics from its next-generation interiors, in line with a pledge to boost material quality while reducing its cars' environmental impacts. 

The roll-out of the Volkswagen Group's new Electric Urban Car Family, as Schäfer calls it, is central to stabilising the manufacturing giant following a turbulent period in which its profits and volumes have dipped significantly, which prompted plans for factory closures and swingeing job cuts across Europe.

Schäfer said that with the launch of the four new electric superminis, "the Brand Group Core is truly bringing its power to the road. We’re on the right track – and now we’re stepping it up a gear."