The new Dacia Bigster SUV is available to pre-order now for less money than a Volkswagen Golf. 

The Romanian firm's largest model yet starts at just £24,995 - nearly £3000 less than the cheapest Golf and far below the list price of many of its closest rivals.

The Nissan Qashqai, for example, starts at £30,135, the Ford Kuga at £33,395 and the Skoda Kodiaq at £38,720.

The Bigster is priced closer to the likes of the smaller Vauxhall Frontera, MG ZS and Omoda 5.

The headline-baiting entry price is for Expression trim, which includes 17in alloy wheels, a 10.1in touchscreen, dual-zone air con, a multi-view camera and front and rear parking sensors. 

Mid-rung Journey trim bumps the list price up to £26,245 for its larger 19in wheels, electric tailgate and bespoke interior upholstery, while Extreme comes in at £26,494 with its panoramic sunroof, modular roof bars, washable microfibre upholstery and rubber floor mats.

Both Journey and Extreme trims provide a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, wireless phone chargers, adaptive high-beam headlights, electric door mirrors, rear privacy glass and the option of a contrasting black roof.

The Bigster is available with a choice of three powertrains: the pure-petrol TCe 130, mild-hybrid petrol TCe 140 and Hybrid 155.

Prices top out at £29,495 for the Hybrid 155 Extreme, keeping the entire range under £30,000.

Speaking to Autocar ahead of the Bigster's price list going public, Dacia CEO Denis Le Vot explained the rationale behind pricing the Bigster so attractively.

"If you take the C-segment SUV market today in Europe, these cars are trading now for €35,000-36,000 as an average real price paid by the client, and it was below €30,000 five years ago," he said. 

"So starting in 2025, you're going to have 2.5 million people every year coming to the dealership to replace their C-SUV and being offered the new 2025 version for €35,000, €36,000, €37,000... And these guys were buying it for €29,000 or €28,000 five years ago, so there's going to be a disappointment.

"So if we take just a slice of this: bingo! And I'm very confident that there will be enough people to consider the Bigster."

To make room for the Bigster to start running down the line at Dacia's plant in Mioveni, Romania, Dacia has moved production of the Sandero hatchback and Jogger MPV to a Renault facility in Morocco and opened up some capacity to build some Dusters in Turkey.

Despite the Bigster being 227mm longer than the closely related Duster, it doesn't gain the option of seven seats, unlike the Kodiaq and Peugeot 5008.

Le Vot said adding a third row would mean "you have to lose knee radius" in the second row, plus it would necessitate a reinforced rear axle and incur a hefty weight penalty, "and if you add more kilograms, you would have to add a more electrified engine and it would cost more."

He said that around 20-25% of C-segment SUVs in Europe are seven-seaters but going after this market would mean "having a less good five-seater" and so there are no plans for a seven-seat Bigster.

Dacia Bigster: engines, design and interior

The Bigster sits on the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance's CMF-B platform, which is shared with the Duster, Sandero, Jogger and Clio. As a result, it is being launched with a mix of electrified powertrains.

The flagship Hybrid 155 pairs a 107bhp four-cylinder petrol engine with two electric motors (a 50bhp motor and a high-voltage starter-generator) and a 1.4kWh battery. The Bigster is the first Renault Group car to be fitted with this set-up.

Outputting 153bhp via a six-speed automatic gearbox, it is the most powerful Dacia model to date. The firm also claims it can be driven in pure-EV mode 80% of the time.

The TCe 140 combines a 138bhp 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with a 48V mild-hybrid system. At the foot of the range is the TCe 130, which is also used by the smaller Duster but features four-wheel drive. Both are available with a six-speed manual gearbox only.

Inside, the Bigster majors on “space, ergonomics and comfort”, according to Dacia. New features – such as thicker glass, improved acoustic padding, adjustable seats and dual-zone climate control – have been added to “meet the expectations of customers” looking for a C-segment SUV.

The high-mounted dash is dominated by a 10.1in central touchscreen, which gets smartphone mirroring as standard.

A huge 667 litres of seats-up boot space puts it on a par with the similarly sized Kodiaq and 5008.

Commenting on the launch of the Bigster, Dacia design boss David Durand said: "For the C-segment, you need a car that stands out, so its good to be a bit different by coming with a tough-looking car that is spacious, but also that has functionality to appeal to buyers. And it goes well with our affordable positioning, too. "

"A rugged design makes sense for us becuase we want our cars to be used as a tool. I have an old Land Rover Series II and for me this is the perfect example of a rugged, reliable tool that you can use everywhere. This is the type of design that I love and I try to apply to our cars becuase we want people to feel proud in our cars, and you don't always need to have a super expensive car to look good," he added.