Renault will increase the localisation levels on the Duster to more than 80 percent in a bid to absorb rising costs and prevent the price hike which comes with it.
The automotive sector is very competitive. Just when a company thinks it has a blockbuster product on its hands and tries to milk the same, some other manufacturer comes up with a similar product with better characteristics to compete. More often than not, the price of the newer product is kept below or very close to the existing competitor. This impacts the older product and sales of the same go down most of the times. Renault has been facing something similar in recent times.
Renault launched the Duster a few years ago when it decided to tap into the demand for compact SUVs. It got the first mover advantage and customers lapped up the product even though the brand was very new to the country. The dream run lasted for a couple of years by when the competition caught up. Now, with many compact SUVs around, the old tiger is suffering. The French carmaker is planning to launch a facelifted version of their popular car to combat the same.
What is more important is that Renault doesn’t want to increase the price of the Duster after the update and hence it is planning to increase the localisation level from the current 70 percent to more than 80 percent which will lead to a reduction in overall costs. This will enable the company to add new features to enamour customers without a price hike. With the newer vehicles like the Hyundai Creta performing exceedingly well and Maruti Suzuki S-Cross getting huge discounts to boost sales, the challenge for the Duster maker is huge.
Renault however has a good experience in localisation since they have localised 98 percent content on their recently launched Kwid hatchback which comes with a very competitive price tag. The company has big plans for India and intends to increase its market share from the current 1.9 percent to 5% by the first quarter of 2017. This will be achieved by expanding the reach of the brand and launching new models in the near future.
Source – AutocarPro.in