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As the grille badge, lack of disguise and raised ride-height reveals, the test mule spied here is a four-wheel-drive version of Dacia’s budget Logan model, being engineered by parent company Renault.
Although this prototype is a saloon, the four-wheel drive transmission will - initially, at least - find its way under the stretched seven-seat Logan MCV.
This model appears to be a production version of the Logan Steppe concept, which first appeared two years ago at the Geneva motor show. Sou...Read the full article

Could it also be basis for Proton's upcoming MPV/SUV? I saw a clay model being made at its R&D centre earlier this year. The only real problem Proton has right now is a tech partner ie. it does not have the budget to fund its own drivetrain from scratch. One of its current engine suppliers is Renault and engine has hardly any presence in Asia-pacific.

Surely this defeats the point of 4x4s doesn't it?  What's the point of a cheap one if you are trying to proclaim just how very successful and rich you are? (runs for cover...)
 

Schwenck - your photo shows you proudly posing next to a Fiat turbo coupe. Something wrong with buying a car (even a 4x4) as a status symbol? The Chinese and Indians are massively driven people and obsessed with status symbols. They're going to dominate the world stage (and influence heavily world culture) over the next 5 to 50yrs so you better get used to it or you'll have to stay under cover in a resentful grump for decades.

  

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