New Renault Duster photos revealed; 2012 India launch confirmed

Renault confirmed today that the Duster SUV will be launched in India in 2012. The India-bound SUV could be the new face-lifted model that the French car maker had unveiled at the Buenos Aires Motor Show recently.

Renault will launch the new Duster in Argentina and Brazil in the last quarter of this year and other countries (including India) will likely get the SUV in 2012.

The new Duster will be produced at Renault’s Curitiba plant in Brazil while the company will likely manufacture the SUV at its Chennai plant in India as well. Local production will help Renault India price the Duster between Rs.7 -Rs. 10 lakh and hence attract buyers of the Mahindra Scorpio and Tata Safari.

The new Duster differs from the current model in terms of exterior as well as interior styling. The face-lifted Duster gets a redesigned front with a chrome grille and a chrome strip at the rear with the SUV’s name i.e. ‘Duster’ embossed on it.

The new Duster has focused headlamps which give it a traditional SUV look. The high ground clearance, front, rear and side body claddings hint that the Duster has been designed to perform both on and off the road without damaging the car’s underbody.

Owing to the contemporary yet subtle design of the car some may feel that its rear lacks visual appeal especially since the small tail lamp cluster doesn’t extend onto the boot.

The upcoming Duster will be equipped with a new generation 4-wheel drive system and the interiors too will be fresh as they sport a new dashboard. Also read: Renault Duster India launch in July 2012

Earlier CarToq had reported that the new Duster will come to Indian market by July 2012 and could be priced at Rs. 7 lakh for the 2WD version and Rs. 9 lakh for the 4WD version.

The Duster’s dimensions may cause a little disappointment to size-conscious SUV buyers as it measures only 4.3 m in length, 1.8 m in width. There are speculations that Renault will likely offer a 1.5 litre diesel engine that makes 105 bhp of maximum power on the new Duster.

For petrol heads, the Duster may likely come with a 2.0 litre petrol motor that makes 135 bhp of maximum power, although there were speculations that Renault might use the 1.6 litre motor that powered the Renault Logan (now Mahindra Verito).

When launched in the Indian market, the Renault Duster will take on the lower variants of the Mahindra Scorpio, Tata Safari and the upcoming Skoda sub-Rs.10 lakh SUV.