Renault Duster has been a great seller and has been clocking some real good volumes here in India. In fact, India is the 4th largest market for the Dacia-Renault Duster. The single biggest complaint which Duster lovers have always had was the absence of a four-wheel drive variant.
Amidst various speculations and some confirmations from Renault officials, Duster 4×4 is coming to us and ‘very soon’ is the word! They are already about to showcase the Duster 4WD to Gang of Duster members around Independence day.
In an update, Duster 4WD has been spied by Zigwheels.com and the pics appear to be taken at some dealership in Pune. The only visual change differentiating it from a normal two-wheel drive Duster will be a ‘4WD’ badging at the right bottom corner of the rear tailgate.
The car is already being sold in the international markets but will be introduced here for the first time. Duster 4WD will also sport a blackened head lamp cluster, giving it no nonsense and no glimmer look. The car will get steel wheels as well as alloys, which are shaped the same as the one found in the regular Duster.
On the interiors side, we get an almost similar design, but the car will now get seats with red accents and a new steering wheel which has lesser curves and more lines. The range topper four-wheel drive variant will also get the large touch screen infotainment system, manufactured by LG.
The knobs for four-wheel drive can be found placed very conveniently below the air con controls, which gives a rather easy access to the driver. The system includes a permanent two-wheel drive mode and an auto mode which will intelligently switch between the four-wheel drive mode and two-wheel drive mode as per the requirement. There is also an Eco mode switch.
Addition of the four wheel drive Duster to the lineup is definitely expected to to increase Duster’s penetration in the market and it may eat into XUV500 and Safari Storme 4X4 variants’ sales. Renault is planning to bring another rebadged Dacia product to India, a 7 seater MPV, called Lodgy sometime early next year.
