The Dacia Bigster — the budget brand’s largest SUV to date — has been given a glow up and transformed into the Renault Boreal for sale in Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Mediterranean basin.
With Dacia largely confined to Europe, Renault has rebadged many models from its Romanian marque for sale in other markets, primarily Africa and Latin America.
Typically this involves swapping Dacia badges for Renault ones, and maybe tweaking the grille.
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The Boreal goes a step further by having completely distinct exterior panels, except for maybe the roof. Up front, the simple lines of the Bigster have given way for a split headlight treatment integrated into an egg-crate grille.
Along the sides the Boreal has smoother surfacing, and a vast section of chiselled faux brushed metal trim on the D-pillar.
At the back, the Boreal ditches the Bigster’s awkward arrowhead tail-lights for a set that wouldn’t look out of place on a Skoda.
Despite these changes, the Boreal is clearly very closely related to Bigster with the two sharing the same overall shape, as well as door apertures, and both feature hidden rear door handles.
The Boreal is 4556mm long, 1841mm wide, 1650mm tall, and rides on a 2702mm wheelbase. Boot space with a rear seats up is rated at 522 litres.
The differences continue on the inside, with the Bigster having its own unique dashboard design where the 10.0-inch instrumentation screen flows into the 10.0-inch infotainment touchscreen.
While the Bigster’s interior makes a virtue of its assortment of hard, but durable plastic, the Boreal’s dash has soft-touch material. The Renault also features more realistic-looking faux metal elements, leather-look seats with contrast stitching, and more generously padded armrests, at least up front.
The Boreal will be made in Brazil for Latin American markets from late 2025, and in Turkey for the Middle East and Mediterranean basin some time in 2026.
While the Bigster is available with a choice of mild-hybrid and hybrid drivetrains, as well as the option of all-wheel drive and a manual transmission, the Boreal will be available exclusively with a 1.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine matched with six-speed dual-clutch automated transmission.
For Boreals made in Turkey the engine develops 103kW and 240Nm, while Brazil-made models are available in petrol or FlexFuel derivatives, the latter of which can use almost any mixture of petrol and alcohol. Brazilian petrol models make 116kW, and FlexFuel variants develop 122kW and 270Nm.
Available features include dual-zone climate control, a refrigerated centre bin, and a Harmon Kardon sound system. The infotainment system runs on the Android Automotive operating system with built-in Google Maps for navigation and Google Assistant voice recognition, and has access to the Google Play app store.
Safety items include blind spot monitoring, lane keeping assistance, traffic sign recognition, autonomous emergency braking, safe exit monitoring, and drowsiness alerts.
The Dacia Bigster (above) was launched at the end of 2024. Closely related to the third-generation Dacia Duster, both cars use the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s CMF-B LS platform.
While the Duster has been sold as a Renault in many global markets since the first generation, it has only just landed in Australia
No word yet on whether the Boreal will be sold in Australia, but so far it doesn’t look like the car will be produced in right-hand drive.
MORE: Everything Renault