Our good friends at Indian Autos Blog have learnt that Renault is planning an aggressive pricing strategy for the upcoming Duster, hoping to leave a footprint in the Indian car market. Earlier Renault has promised that they will launch 5 cars in India by the end of 2012. Since the launch of the first 3 models, Fluence, Koleos and Pulse, Renault has not picked up the way they might have wanted and with the the Duster they are planning to hit big!
The Duster belongs to a segment that hardly has any competition at this moment so an early mover advantage is definitely one thing that is going in their favor. An aggressive price tag is supposed to make the product highly successful and create a good impression among potential buyers. The company is expected to price the Petrol variant of Duster under the Rs. 6 Lakhs mark and the Diesel variant at a little over the Rs. 7 Lakhs mark.
The Indian version of the Duster will sport a 1.5 Litre Petrol engine which is currently powering up the Sunny. The diesel variants will be powered by a 1.5 Litre Diesel engine. Top end variants will be loaded with features like ABS, EBD, Brake Assist, Leather Upholstery and Keyless Entry.
The production if Duster in expected commence by the month of July at Renault’s Orgadam plant in Chennai, and the cars will start reaching the dealerships by the month of August. The company will start exporting Duster to the UK Car Market from early next year as Dacia has stated that Duster will be sold there, starting from January 2013.
Ford is also expected to introduce their EcoSport at an aggresive price and with Mahindra mini-Xylo coming around Diwali, it is bound to become a war of compact SUVs.
By,
Arghya Pan
Team MotorBash
Source: Indian Autos Blog
