Renault India hikes prices of the Duster SUV yet again

Renault India?s biggest success till date has been the Duster SUV, a product that?s been selling so well that it is now the top selling SUV in the Indian car market. At the time of the Duster?s launch in the second half of 2012, Renault India priced the Duster competitively by dangling a carrot called ?introductory pricing?. The Indian car buyer took the bait and soon, Renault was selling the Duster much faster than it could build. While waiting periods of the Duster continue to remain high, the French car maker has effected another price hike on the SUV, the second such hike since the Duster?s launch last year.

This time around, the diesel variants of the Duster have seen prices hiked by INR 20,000 to INR 50,000, depending on the variant. While the 110 Bhp Duster RxZ variant gets the smallest price hike of about INR 20,000, the Duster in RxL(O) trim gets the biggest price hike of about INR 50,000. Given that the demand for the Duster is stiff, the price hike might be stomached by the car buyer, who doesn?t have many choices in the compact SUV segment, apart from the Mahindra Quanto, which is a generation behind the Duster in terms of refinement levels.

Meanwhile, here are the complete details of the price hike across the diesel variants of the Duster. These prices are reflective ex-showroom Mumbai figures.

2013 Renault Duster SUV

MODEL????-(Old Price)?????(New Price)
RxE 85????INR 873,645????INR 902,490
RxL 85????INR 978,704????INR 1,007,549
RxL(O) 85??-INR 1,083,763???INR 1,133,621

RxL 110???-INR 1,083,763???INR 1,112,608
RxZ 110???-INR 1,188,835???INR 1,207,161
RxZ(O) 110??-INR 1,220,339???INR 1,259,692

The latest price hike of the Duster does provide an excellent opportunity for other car makers to step in and fill the widening gap between the Mahindra Quanto and the Reanult Duster. The Ford EcoSport compact crossover is one such product that can fit right into this gap and carve out a nice market for itself. Ford India is betting big on heavy localization levels for the EcoSport, with top officials of the American car maker even going on to say that they want the EcoSport to be a game changer like the Figo hatchback. So, the expectations of ?value pricing? for the EcoSport is growing with each passing day. The Ford EcoSport is expected to be launched in the middle of 2013, with turbo petrol and turbo diesel engine options.

January 15, 2013 | By Jay Prashanth ? Tags: 2013 Renault Duster Diesel SUV, Renault India

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Source: http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/cars/renault-india-hikes-prices-of-the-duster-suv-yet-again-66621/

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