When the new Dacia Jogger goes on sale here in Ireland, which it will do very shortly, it will be the cheapest seven-seat car you can buy. Prices for the new Jogger start from €23,290, and seven seats come as standard across the range.
Three trim levels
That range starts with an Essential model, which comes as standard with manual air conditioning, cruise control with speed limiter, rear parking sensors, height- and reach-adjustable steering wheel, automatic headlights, front fog lights, electric front windows, Automatic Emergency Braking System (AEBS) and Dacia's Media Control, which dispenses with a touchscreen in favour of simply clamping your smartphone to the dash.
For €25,090, you can upgrade to a Comfort model, which comes with modular roof rails, body-colour door handles, electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors, automatic wipers, front and rear parking sensors with reversing camera and 16-inch 'Flex' steel wheels that, although styled to replicate the appearance of alloy wheels, are more robust and affordable should they need to be replaced. Inside, you get satin chrome interior door handles, satin chrome and copper orange air vents, central armrest with storage, electric rear windows and one-touch operation on the front, electric parking brake, keyless entry, automatic air conditioning, blind spot warning and an eight-inch touchscreen with two USB ports and smartphone mirroring, including both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The top-spec model will be the Extreme SE, which costs €26,590 and comes with 16-inch alloy wheels in a black finish, black roof bars and door mirrors, plus additional exterior styling elements unique to the model. The interior, meanwhile, gains heated front seats, special floor and cargo mats and Dacia's Media Nav system with built-in navigation and wireless smartphone mirroring.
Hybrid version coming
There's only one engine option for now - the familiar 110hp 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine, which comes with a six-speed manual gearbox. CO2 emissions stand at 134g/km. In Europe, there will be a version of that engine that can run on LPG, but that won't be offered in Ireland as the LPG tank takes up space in the boot, meaning that it's only a five-seat model.
We will get the Jogger Hybrid, although that won't arrive in the Irish market until next year. It will use the same 1.6-litre petrol engine and two-motor electric setup as the Renault Captur, and it will retain a full seven-seat layout. Dacia has also hinted that it might introduce a plug-in hybrid version in 2024.
This being a Dacia, the Jogger's seven-seat layout has been kept pretty simple. The third row of seats doesn't fold flat into the floor - instead, they fold and tumble forward to open up extra boot space, or you can remove them entirely for even more space. Likewise, the middle row of seats folds and tumbles. In seven-seat mode, you have 212 litres of luggage space, which expands to 699 litres with the third-row seats folded. Fold the middle row, and take out the third row, and you have 2,085 litres to play with, plus a flat floor that's a full two metres long.
80kg roof rack
There's another 23 litres of storage space dotted around the cabin, including big door bins (they can swallow one-litre drinks bottles), a big glovebox and a 1.3-litre lidded storage bin in the centre console.
The Jogger also gets Dacia's neat roof rails, which have fold-out sections that lock in place to form a full 80kg-capable roof-rack, and although it will come with front-wheel drive only, there's a decent 200mm of ground clearance, so you'll be able to tackle tricky terrain.