THE Dacia bandwagon keeps rolling along picking up sales at every turn.

The Romanian car maker was treading water until Renault snapped it up and turned it into one of the fastest growing brands in Europe. 

Its success is built on no frills motoring at budget busting prices.

We saw something similar in the eighties with cut price Eastern bloc cars. 

They didn’t survive because they were rubbish, but that is never going to happen with Dacia. These are no here today, gone tomorrow cheapskates.

The range is gradually building and enjoying success right across Europe. Here the figures are equally impressive with sales expected to top 25,000, nearly 2,000 up on last year.

So is going downmarket a joy or a disappointment? I suspect it will be mainly joy, but there will be disappointments. 

You can’t expect to swap a five year old big name model for a Dacia without making some sacrifices.

Let’s take the Duster I have been driving for the last week as an example. 

This compact SUV helped establish Dacia in the UK and is phenomenal value for money. 

It is not a bad looking car and is well built, free of rattles and squeaks. 

So where are the compromises that make this car thousands of pounds less than its rivals?

The first thing to notice is the door mirrors have to be adjusted manually, something that irritated me for all of 10 seconds. It only has to be done once so where is the problem? 

Then there is steering. It is power assisted, but is noticeably heavy and comes as a bit of a shock but like everything else that is different, you get used to it.

After that it is just a case of accepting small, often insignificant aspects of the car that are a little different from the norm. 

My Ambiance, the middle of three models, has front power windows, but not the usual one touch – see what I mean about insignificant.

Air conditioning would be worth paying the extra for as it takes a little longer to demist the windscreen and you really don’t want the fan on full blast for too long, it is deafening.

A glance around the cabin reveals lots of hard plastic which, if nothing else, looks durable and feels solid. 

There is no touch screen interface here, just easy to use radio and heating controls I loved the feel of the chunky nobs and it is just a pity they are positioned at the base of the centre console. 

At least the Ambiance has Renault’s excellent stalk control for the radio.

Dacia’s position on what is needed in a car is simple – eliminate the unnecessary and let customers pay for what they value. Good philosophy that and most of the additional bells and whistles can be specified, or just buy the top of the range Laureate – you still won't pay an arm and leg for the car. Just keep reminding yourself how comparatively little you have paid for the car and the little things that are missing will pale into insignificance.

The Duster is a sizeable motor and ideal for a growing family. 

Plenty of room for three in the back, seats which have a 60/40 split, and the boot is a decent size although the four wheel drive made for a high loading deck.

Most punters go for Renault’s 1.5 diesel which is a bit of a plodder in the heavier Duster and barely hit 40mpg when I expected 50mpg. And it is not as well sound proofed as Renault models, but that is another minor compromise.

There is nothing much wrong with the way the Duster drives, a bit of body roll and a tad more road noise, but nothing to make an owner regret taking a punt at a car that breaks the mould.

The only area that needs attention is the steering which apart from the heavy feel suffers from kickback whenever the front wheels hit a dinge in the road.

How it shapes up...

Dacia Duster Ambiance

Engine: 1.5 dCi

Performance: 0-62mph 12.4secs

Economy: 60.4mpg combined

Emissions: 123g/km. Road tax £110

Insurance: group 10

Price: £13,995