The Renault Duster returns
In an event that Francisco Hidalgo, Renault India’s Vuce-President for Sales and Marketing described as the ‘largest ever’ car launch in the world, the French carmaker took the covers off the next-generation Renault Duster. With 15,000 people attending the launch at Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, Renault was also marking a new chapter in India.
The French carmaker recently bought out their erstwhile’alliance partner’ from their previously shared 400,000 unit manufacturing facility at Oragadam outside Chennai. Sources said that Renault had been forced to consolidate European operations after the closure of their facilities in Russia due to sanctions, which led to Indian operations being sidelined over the past few years, something that is expected to be corrected in the coming years.
While the carmaker saw significant momentum in sales in the second half of 2025, especially after GST benefits with sales rising by 18.2 percent, the Duster will play a major role in the carmaker’s future in India. The Duster will come with three engine options, including a 163 horsepower turbo-petrol but the highlight will be a new Hybrid ‘E-Tech’ variant that will be launched in the festive season.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Venkatram Mamillapalle, Managing Director, Renault India said that “Hybrids are the new Diesels and our advanced hybrid technology which has a larger battery than the competition will allow for our vehicle to run on electric mode 80 per cent of the time in city driving conditions.”
While Venkatram hinted that Renault India would also be bringing a battery electric vehicle next year, he said that there still needs to be major investments in electric charging infrastructure. “Hybrids offer the benefit of much higher mileage without charging tension. We are already testing this vehicle across India in all sorts of conditions.” Renault India admits that the disappearance of the Duster from the Indian market impacted sales and its reputation.
But with the Duster relaunch and an expected three-row SUV on the same platform expected to be launched later this year, the carmaker hopes to regain trust. They are also announcing a 7-year warranty for the new vehicle. Bookings are officially opened at `21,000 and deliveries of the new vehicle are expected to start by late-March or early-April. However, with competition also launching new vehicles such as the new Kia Seltos which is also expected to get a Hybrid variant and the new Tata Sierra high will also have an EV version, Renault India will have their work cut out.
