Dacia has revealed its all-new Jogger seven-seat family car, which will be the budget-focused brand’s first hybrid model.
According to Dacia, the Jogger mixes the practicality of an estate car with the spaciousness of an MPV and the character of an SUV. With prices set to start from around €15,000 – or just under £13,000 at today’s exchange rate – when it goes on sale in November this year, the Jogger looks set to be the most affordable seven-seater on the market.
The Jogger has a clear lifestyle focus, with 200mm of ground clearance and SUV-inspired styling, which is matched by plenty of practicality. At just over 4.5 metres it’s the longest Dacia model in the line-up and, as with all forthcoming Dacia models, is based on the brand’s CMF-B platform.
Dacia Jogger: interior and practicality
The 2.9-metre wheelbase (around 30cm longer than the Sandero supermini) allows for up to seven seats, although the Jogger will also be available in five-seat form; we explored how much space was on offer in the third row of the seven-seat model at the car’s unveiling and can report that adults will be fine in the rearmost seats.
Space in the middle row is similar, and although the 60:40 split bench doesn’t slide due to cost and complexity reasons, the seat bases do flip forwards improving access to the back. It’s a practical machine with good headroom too, helped by a 40mm step up in roof height between the front and the rear of the passenger compartment.
Other touches that improve usability include folding picnic tables on the front seatbacks that slide up to 70mm, as well as integrated roof bars with removable sections that can be turned through 90 degrees, taking a roof load of up to 80kg.
Boot space stands at 213 litres with all seven seats in place, rising to 712 litres in five-seat mode, with a maximum carrying capacity of 1,819 litres available by removing the rearmost seats (an easy job, as we found, with each third-row chair only weighing 10kg), and folding the second row down.
The Jogger offers up to 24 litres of storage space spread across the glovebox, door bins (each holds a one-litre bottle) and a central lidded cubby, with six cupholders also on offer.
Dacia Jogger: engines and powertrains
Dacia’s 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged unit will be the only engine from launch, either in TCe 110 petrol form, or TCe 100 Bi-Fuel specification.
The first engine offers 108bhp and 200Nm of torque and is mated to a six-speed manual transmission. The Bi-Fuel version serves up slightly less power and torque at 99bhp and 170Nm respectively. However, with claimed CO2 emissions of 121g/km it’s 10 per cent cleaner than an equivalent petrol unit. Fuel economy stands at a claimed 37.1mpg and with both the 40-litre LPG and 50-litre petrol tank filled the Jogger has a total claimed range of 621 miles.
Bigger news is that the Jogger will become Dacia’s first hybrid model in 2023, with the car using the same 1.6-litre petrol engine, dual-electric motor and 1.2kWh battery set-up as sister brand Renault’s Clio supermini. Dacia claims that the Jogger Hybrid will spend up to 80 per cent of its time on electricity in urban conditions.
Dacia Jogger: trim levels and design
From launch the Jogger will be available in three trim levels. The line-up starts with Essential, while a mid-spec Comfort model will also be available. A limited-edition Extreme grade tops the range and features more off-road-focused styling, with extra black body cladding around the wheel arches and bumpers, as well as front and rear skid plates for a more rugged look. Extreme models also feature black 16-inch alloy wheels, with 16-inch wheels standard across the range.
There’s a family resemblance to the Duster from the front, while some of the Jogger’s design details also serve a functional purpose. For example, the vertical tail-light clusters maximise the width of the boot opening to make loading large items easier.
There’ll be more safety tech than ever too, with emergency brake assist and six airbags fitted as standard, while blind spot warning and park assist will also be available.
Dacia Jogger: infotainment and technology
The Jogger will launch with three different multimedia systems depending on spec. First up is Media Control, which is based around a smartphone app, replicating the app’s content on a dash-mounted screen. It’s a simple interface that controls your device’s nav, media and telephone contacts.
Next up is the Media Display system, which adds an eight-inch touchscreen featuring Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, as well as a four-speaker stereo.
Finally, Media Nav adds built-in sat-nav, as well as wireless smartphone connectivity, a six-speaker stereo and two USB ports, rounding off Dacia’s latest tech.
Despite these upgrades, the Jogger will still focus on affordability, with the range set to start from the UK equivalent of around £13,000 when pre-orders start in November 2021. First deliveries are expected in the early 2022, while the Jogger Hybrid will join the line-up in 2023.
Now read our review of the new Dacia Sandero Stepway. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…