French automaker Renault might not launch the 2023 Duster in India as it rethinks its strategy for the country while also limiting exposure to risk.
Currently, the brand is working to provide a facelift for the second-generation Duster that did not make it to India, while a 7-seat version of the same is also being readied.
In India, the carmaker continues to sell the first-generation Duster which does not find many takers (only 180 units of the compact SUV were sold in April 2021).
Until now, it was expected that Renault would bring to India the third-generation Duster which is likely to make its world debut by late 2022 or early 2023. But, things seem to have changed under Renault’s current global CEO, Luca de Meo who took the reins in 2020.
He wants to expand the brand’s electric vehicle plan and had also asked his teams to reduce exposure to risk. Consequently, the 2023 Renault Duster India launch plan seems to have been put on the back burner, with the brand only stating it will study the renewal of the Duster in India.
Back in February news broke out that the 2023 Renault Duster will not be based on the brand’s CMF-A platform. Instead, it would be underpinned by a new architecture named CMF-B.
This would make the 2023 model year compact SUV bigger than the second-generation Duster. The same platform will be used to build the production version of Dacia Bigster Concept to keep costs in check.
It is unfortunate that Renault, which has steadily increased its market share in India with the introduction of the Kwid, Triber and more recently the Kiger compact SUV, would decide not to further capitalise on its growth by launching the 2023 Duster in the market.
Although the Duster has found more than 2 lakh homes so far, its throne was long stolen by the Hyundai Creta. It is not known if Renault would axe the India-spec Duster or continue to stretch its lifetime than it had already planned.
Source – carandbike.com