New Delhi, May 6: The Renault Duster has become the largest selling SUV in the segment overtaking the Mahindra Scorpio and that too in a very short span of time. The five-seater compact Renault Duster sold more units than the Scorpio in April 2013. The Duster, launched last July, clocked sales of 6,300 units, which is far ahead of Mahindra's 4,700 Scorpios.
The Duster's rise in sales comes despite its premium price tag. While the entry level Mahindra Scorpio costs Rs 7.54 lakh, the Duster comes at Rs 8.94 lakh for the entry variant (both prices ex-showroom Mumbai for diesel model).
Flying literally out of the showrooms, the model now contributes over 80 percent of the car maker's total sales in the country. The company's earlier models, the Fluence, Koleos and Pulse met with a poor market response.
Analysts expect the SUV to remain at the SUC segment. With sales of 39,188 units last financial year and an average of 5,500 units a month, the Duster is set to clock sales in excess of 60,000 units this year.
The diesel variant of the Renault Duster which runs a 1.5-litre unit has been not a victim of excise duty hike from 27 per cent to 30 per cent. Also, the Duster has an edge over the Scorpio when it comes to design and styling. The petrol version of the Duster is however classified as an SUV under the newly created segment.
The Duster is available in three engine options. The 1.6-litre petrol engine which delivers 104 PS at 5850rpm and 145 Nm of torque at 3750rpm. Two variants of the 1.5 dCi K9K diesel engine are also available — one developing 85PS and the other, 110PS. The Duster weighs less than 1300kg, making it quite agile over challenging conditions. Renault claims the petrol Duster offers a mileage of 13.4 kmpl and the 85PS, 110PS diesels return 20.45 kmpl and 19.01 kmpl respectively.
The Duster is primarily sold as a Dacia product internationally. Most of its markets are developing countries.
Renault produces the Duster from another joint venture company plant based in Chennai, shared with Nissan. Nissan is expected to launch its owariant of the SUV based on the Duster platform to cash in on the growing demand for SUVs in India.
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