Tuesday, April 24, 2012
By Shilpa Chopra
Renault Dacia Duster SUV clocks 3 lakh global sales
It is very unjustified. Where India is eagerly awaiting the Renault Duster SUV, there are reports coming in that the SUV has clocked over 3 lakh global sales. It should have been launched in India. The compact SUV slated for India is awaited this year in the coming June or most probably Diwali from the French car maker’s stable. The sub four meter SUV is expected to have a duel with American compact SUV Ford Ecosport and Maruti XA Alpha (all upcoming). In India the Renault SUV is expected to be priced around Rs 8.5 lakh and as per the information available the car maker will be launching in diesel only versions in the same way it has done to small car Renault Pulse.
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Just as Datsun is to Nissan so is Dacia to Renault. It is a low cost car brand. Just as Nissan is thinking of bringing the Datsun in India, so is Renault will be bringing in the Romania based Dacia cars in India and the first will be Duster SUV. The Duster will be an under four meter SUV and will be joining the segment senior, not the leader of course – Premier Rio that is also equipping its product to compete with the new entrants.
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The Dacia SUV is based on Renault’s B Platform and thus it will be able to keep the production cost down. It is one of the low cost cars based on this platform. Notably, after having launched the brand in UK, Renault aims to popularize the brand in India. The new SUV by Renault will be joining the already launched Renault Koleos is the only SUV for now in Renault India’s stable. As per reports, the Indian version of the Dacia Duster expected to be launched in only diesel version will be sold here and the Left Hand Drive version will be exported to UK from India.
Pandits
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Renault’s focus is to get Duster to the UK market first, that explains why Renault has provided so much clarity to UK customers on the exact date of launch ( online booking with only 100 pounds booking amount starts June 28th 2012). There are no such plans for India ( June?, Oct ?, Diwali ?). The fact is once UK requirements are meet, any excess production will be available for India, that could be the only reason they are not ready to commit anything for India. <br /> <br />Also, Renault is positioning Duster as a VFM 4×4 in the UK, and expects to get good sales numbers. Which explains why they are non-commital on 4×4 availability in India. The chances of 4×2 leftovers are higher than 4×4. <br />In short, UK will have higher priority in sales, spares, support, dealer network etc. over India. <br />Another reason for Renault shying away from providing any details in India could be the fact that simply they lack the confidence to take on the biggies like Mahindra, Maruti and Ford who would shortly come up with competing compact SUVs. India is still a difficult market for them as all their products have flopped, not that they were serious about India on these products either. Another possibility is given the bad economic conditions, Renault may want to play safe by going in for low volume, high return markets first and sell any excess production to Indian market. <br />At this moment it seems to be a big gamble to buy Renault Duster. Makes sense to wait for other competing products like Ford Ecosport, Maruti Alpha to also get launched and then take a call. I really have a doubt Renault’s half hearted second attempt to make a mark in India is going to bear fruits <br />