Renault, the car manufacturers from France, has always had plans to grow big in the Indian market. The auto giants are coming out with their fourth product for the Indian market, Renault Duster, an SUV, which can be expected to have its launch in the middle of 2012. Till date, only a few details of this new vehicle have been made available. The best among them is that the Duster is expected to be launched in the country with five variants, including both petrol as well as diesel engines. According to sources, the engines that are being planned are the 1.6L for the petrol variant and 1.5L for the diesel one. There have been a lot of speculations in the market regarding what the pricing of this vehicle will be, however what has been known till date is that the Indian pricing of the vehicles will be in the range of Rs.7-11 Lakh. Having given a reasonable pricing to the vehicle, the auto company has hopes of generating around 50,000 units of sales worldwide, inclusive of its sales in the UK.
The interiors of the Renault Duster have distinct similarities to that of the Logan, something that readily catches the eyes. If one can go back to the not so distant past, they would recollect that the Logan was the product of a not very successful partnership that had been forged between Renault and Indian automakers, Mahindra. The Logan did not have interiors that one could really feel very proud of. If the Renault Duster retains the same interiors, then it is not very likely that it will get much success. Therefore, Renault has decided to bring in a certain amount of changes, to make the interiors more exciting. The control mechanism for the power windows at the rear, which in the past could be operated only from the dashboard, has now been provided on the insides of the doors, where they ideally should be.
Discussing about the engine, the Renault Duster 1.5 L diesel variant is the same engine as the one that powered the Fluence, the first individually designed sedan from Renault. This engine had also driven the Logan, now popularly termed Mahindra Verito. This diesel engine will be provided two variations, the first one having a maximum power output of 85Bhp whereas the second one would generate peak power of 110Bhp. Speculations are gaining ground that the Duster would be provided with a right-hand driving option for the UK markets as well. However, Renault will not gain higher profit margins through the duster in India as it has exceeded the 4m length prescribed for SUVs thereby entitling it to higher excise duties.
