In truest Top Gear style: Good News! Customers will soon be able to pre-order their Dacia Duster, the first model to reach the UK from Renault's Romanian budget division. Well we say soon but interested parties will have to wait until June 28th - 75 days from now - to put their money down on the Nissan Qashqai rival that is expected to come with a sub-£10,000 price tag.

The announcement from Dacia is part of the 100-day countdown to pre-launch and comes 25 days after the announcement that the firm will enter the UK market. On the faithful day in June customers will be able to pre-order the Duster SUV online with just a £100 deposit ahead of scheduled delivery in January 2013.

Buyers will be invited to 'build' their desired Duster via an online configurator before selecting a supplying Dacia Dealer to fulfill their order. The recommended retail prices will also be guaranteed over the pre-ordering phase.

June 28th also marks the date when final pricing and specifications for the Duster will be announced, but Dacia is already quoting a sub-£10,000 entry with the 4x4 version available for less than £12,500. Dacia claims that online interest in the brand is high with many prospective buyers already signed up to www.dacia.co.uk and receiving regular news updates on the brand and its cars. We wonder whether or not famous Dacia fan, James 'Captain Slow' May is one of those who has signed up...

Paul Healy - 16 Apr 2012