Renault’s sister brand, Dacia, has taken the wraps off the Duster Soul of Dakar edition to celebrate the brand’s entry in the upcoming Dakar Rally. This is officially a one-off show car to celebrate, but the company’s CEO has suggested that a line of similar cars could also make it to showrooms.

1. Duster Soul of Dakar to be one of many special editions
2. Gets Dakar rally car-inspired exterior paint shade
3. Renault Duster headed to India next year

Duster Soul of Dakar first of many special edition models

The uniquely kitted Duster gets a unique black, grey and orange livery that has been inspired by the Dacia Sandrider, which will compete in the next Dakar rally. To round off its outdoorsy looks, it also gets a specially designed roof rack that carries “a waterproof bag, a cargo box and a shovel, allowing occupants to tackle more difficult terrains”. On the inside, it has unique hooks for additional smartphones, tablets and other accessories. 

Apart from the cosmetic tweaks, there are no other mechanical changes on the special edition Duster. It comes with a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine good for 128hp, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox and electric AWD setup.

Although Dacia officially calls the Soul of Dakar a one-off, CEO Denis Le Vot previously told our sister publication, Autocar UK, that he was open to using the Dakar Rally for a more direct link to its road-going models, too. “Maybe we can use a taste and feel of the Dakar car on some limited series or whatever, but we will see,” he said.

Renault Duster India launch details

Renault India has announced that the Duster will come to India sometime in 2025. It will also have a Nissan derivative that will join the line-up a little later.