Dacia’s £17k Jogger can turn into a CAMPERVAN for an extra £1,200

Britain has a new, cheapest motorhome just in time for this summer – and it’s almost half the price of the previous most affordable motorhome.

With ‘staycationing’ becoming much more common since the pandemic curtailed foreign travel in 2020, holidaymakers have spent huge sums of money on motorhomes in recent years to enjoy their holidays a little closer to home.

But Dacia now has a solution that will save thousands of euros.

That’s because the Romanian budget marque will soon launch a ‘Sleep Pack’ option for its £17,000 seven-seater Jogger station wagon that offers a fold-out double bed in the rear.

The Dacia Jogger is already Britain’s cheapest seven-seat family car, with the 2022 newcomer starting at £17,145. For that price tag, it dramatically undercuts competitive MPVs

Prices for the Jogger start from £17,145 in the UK, making it by far the most affordable seven-seat family car in showrooms today.

And Dacia has now confirmed it will also become the cheapest campervan with an accessory that will cost around £1,200 when it becomes available in Britain in time for the summer holidays.

While the Sleep Pack price has not been approved for the UK, it will cost €1,400 in France, where it will initially launch.

Dacia says the new Jogger Sleep Pack ‘turns the Jogger’s spacious interior into a mobile bedroom in minutes’. It will go on sale in France initially, but should be available in the UK before the summer holidays

When you want to turn the Jogger from a practical family motorcycle into a motor home, simply remove the two rear seats (pictured left) and install the Sleep Pack unit through the cargo area instead

In the morning, the mattress can be quickly stowed away in the storage compartment before occupants set off for their next adventure or head home

The camping package will only increase the popularity of the new Jogger. Dacia says it has sold 2,832 units in just nine months since its official launch in 2022, resulting in a retail market share of 14.5%

This will “turn the Jogger’s spacious interior into a mobile bedroom in minutes,” the auto company said.

The accessory is a 220-litre transportable storage box that weighs less than 50kg, meaning it can be lifted in and out of the back of the family car fairly easily.

Our Dacia Jogger review

There is an age old saying: you get what you pay for. And in terms of the Dacia Jogger, £17,145 brings you Britain’s cheapest seven-seater car today.

To put its budget-busting price into perspective, the Jogger costs about half of the second most affordable model on the market that can carry the same number of people at any given time.

It sounds like an incredible deal, doesn’t it? But does the reduced price mean you get half the car? And can it really be considered an alternative to a traditional multi-purpose passenger transport vehicle?

We decided to find out by putting the budget-friendly family bike through its paces.

> Read our in-depth Dacia Jogger review

If you want to convert the Jogger from a practical family motorcycle to a motorhome, simply remove the two rear seats and install the Sleep Pack unit through the cargo area.

Once the occupants have reached their desired vacation spot, they must fold the rear seat backrests forward and unfold the contents of the boot.

This takes two minutes and results in a mattress measuring 190 cm by 130 cm on which two adults can sleep comfortably.

With the bed unfolded, the Jogger’s relatively high roofline offers about 60cm of vertical clearance, so there’s plenty of room to move around without your head bumping into the headliner.

In the morning, the backpack can be quickly folded before setting off on an adventure.

The box also offers storage space for sleeping bags and a few large backpacks.

If more sleeping space is required, a smart tent is also available that connects to the open boot lid of the Jogger, while blackout blinds on all windows provide some privacy.

The accessory will be available to order later this year and can be added to the price of a new Dacia Jogger, or purchased from the after-sale accessory pack and added separately at any time.

With the cheapest Jogger costing just over £17,000 and the pack around £1,200, the total price for the two-person campervan will start in the region of £18,345.

How does that compare to what’s on the market today?

The currently cheapest two-person campervan is Volkswagen’s Caddy California, which costs between £32,209 and £38,558 depending on specification.

That means the Jogger and Sleep Pack option is about half the price.

Britain’s most popular new campervan is the larger VW California, which starts at an eye-watering £60,398 – that’s more than three times the price of the Jogger station wagon, although it can sleep up to four (two adults and two children) and a built-in kitchen.

The Jogger (left) and Sleep Pack will be the most affordable two-person campervan, starting in the region of £18,345. The current cheapest two-person campervan is VW’s Caddy California (right)

Volkswagen’s Caddy California costs between £32,209 and £38,558 in the UK, depending on specification. However, it has more features, including a pop-up roof and a retractable cooking area

As you can see in this image, the VW has a roomier interior and a bigger double bed, but it costs twice as much as the Jogger and isn’t as practical to use as an everyday family car

Other brands offer camping solutions for the conventional cars with the addition of official roof tent accessories. This Mini copy is expensive. At £2,400 it’s twice the price of the Dacia Sleep Pack

The Dacia option also significantly undercuts some conventional car camping solutions offered by rival brands.

For example, Mini sells an official roof top tent for its Countryman SUV, although these cost a whopping £2,400.

Dacia’s Jogger was recently named the country’s ‘Best Large Family Car’ at the 2023 UK Car of the Year Awards.

The Jogger, which only hit showrooms last year, has already found favor with British car buyers, the brand says.

Last year, the model posted 2,832 sales in just nine months since its official launch, resulting in a retail market share of 14.5 percent.

The result placed it firmly in the top three models in its segment.