Like a lot of you reading this, I’ve been watching the Glastonbury festival over the last weekend. As ever, plenty of highs and a few lows but generally it’s a decent cross section of the music scene. I always feel a tad sorry for those artists trying to entertain a crowd which is really waiting for you to get off so the main act that they’re waiting for can come on instead.

Okay, the Pyramid Stage will always get the headlines, but some of the smaller stages are often where you’ll find some new up and coming gems. You’ll also get some late arrivals at the party who are trying to make a rather belated name for themselves.

And you could say the same about the latest Jogger from Dacia. Why? Because it’s the first car in the Dacia range to arrive in this country with electric assistance. 

Dacia is currently flying as a brand. Last year saw its sales double in the UK compared to 2021, and 2023 has seen cars from its range updated with brand new badging.

Don’t think that the only reason to consider Dacia is because of their competitive price, though. Dacia’s are well equipped and surprisingly good to drive and two of the latest models to arrive are arguably the company’s most important yet.

The Dacia Duster, starting price £17,295, continues the trend of sensible, roomy motoring at the sort of price that other manufacturers can only dream about while the car I drove, the Dacia Jogger, has just been given hybrid power. Prices for the 7-seater Jogger Hybrid start at £22,995, although the range kicks off at £18,295.

The Jogger Hybrid is very impressive. It’s a proper 7-seater as standard and, in the case of the Hybrid model in Expression trim, it’s well-equipped too.

Under the bonnet, there’s a 138bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine mated to an automatic gearbox and two self-charging, battery driven electric motors. The Jogger Hybrid feels sharp off the line because it always starts in electric mode. In terms of acceleration, you’ll manage 0-60mph in 10 seconds. But for those of you who only do a short-ish commute or school run, the fact that you can run for about 40 miles on electric power only will be a major factor in choosing the Dacia Jogger Hybrid version. Use the hybrid system to its full extent and you’ll get very close to the official figure of 56.5mpg. Press the Eco button and you’ll find that the car makes you drive more sensitively by reducing throttle response. Flick into B mode and the regenerative braking is increased and helps keep the battery topped up.

It’s surprising that it’s taken so long for Dacia to introduce some sort of electrification into their range because they’re owned by Renault who’ve been using it for ages. 

In terms of kit, the Expression trim (the introductory level on the hybrid model) gets you an 8-inch touchscreen with smartphone compatibility, a rear camera, powered windows and keyless entry. There are parking sensors all-round, LED headlights, roof bars, DAB radio, powered mirrors, air-con and cruise control as standard. We wouldn’t bother with the top of the range Extreme trim unless you really must have heated seats and additional styling.

As we mentioned earlier, this is a proper 7-seater. The third row will cope with a couple of adults, assuming they aren’t giants. You can flop the 2nd row of seats forward and remove the 3rd row entirely if you want to use the Jogger as a glorified estate car. You’ll end up with a vast 2,085 cubic litres of space. With 7 seats in place, you still have a surprising amount of boot space and if you need extra capacity for 7 occupants, you can make use of the roof rails.

It’s good to drive too and very quiet. It shrugs off rough and lumpy road surfaces, yet manages to avoid too much in terms of body roll. It’s not what you’d call fun, but it’s fuss free and very comfortable.

Yes, the Dacia Jogger is competitively priced, but forget about that. It’s a terrific 7-seater in its own right and one thing’s for certain, Dacia sales will continue to increase throughout 2023 if maintain this level.

Words: Graham Courtney
Pictures: Dacia