Renault is on a car launch spree in India. After introducing Renault Koleos and testing Renault Modus hatchback on the roads of Chennai, Renault Duster is in the news. Renault Duster, specifically an SUV is likely to hit Indian roads by the middle of next year following its launch. After the launch of Koleos at a surprising price of Rs 23 lakh, it is expected that Renault Duster price would be in the ambit of Rs 8-10 lakh. Such pricing can be done to capture Mahindra Scorpio SUV which is a huge hit in India.
The claimed to be low cost SUV Renault Duster in India will be powered by 1.5 litre dCi engine and 1.6 litre petrol engine. Duster will be available in the 4X2 and 4X4 versions. Apart from this, close sources have revealed that Renault aims to make India the exclusive manufacturing and export hub of its SUV- Renault Duster. The company foresees immense opportunities in India-Asia’s third biggest automobile market and the second fastest growing automobile market after China. Renault is most likely to manufacture Duster completely in India and export it to all its right hand car markets globally from here itself. Renault plans to export Duster to UK under the Dacia badge by the end of 2012 with slight cosmetic variations from Indian model. South Africa could be the next export destination as even Mahindra and Mahindra is exporting its SUVs there, although the plan is not yet final.
Ashish Sinharoy, Vice-President (Communications & corporate affairs) at Renault India has reportedly not denied this possibility by saying that the company will definitely look at any opportunity for exporting made-in-India cars to its global network but after focusing on Indian market for the five cars that will be launched between May 2011 and December 2012. If sources are to be believed, this will make Renault the first foreign carmaker in India that exports its SUVs from the country. Till now only Suzuki Motor and Hyundai use their Indian plants for the export of small cars.
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