Renault Duster is the new compact SUV in India which has kept everyone talking. This SUV has been received exceptionally well in the Indian auto industry with sales crossing 5000+ units for October 2012. It was launched way back in July-2012 for a starting price of Rs 7.19 lakhs, now the company offers the Brazil-spec Duster SUV with a four speed automatic gearbox.
However, Renault India has made it amply clear that they have no plans to introduce the Duster’s automatic variant in India anytime soon. The reason behind the statement is that the company is already struggling to meet the demand for the manual variant and launching an automatic variant in this situation would only increase the waiting period.
Therefore, India is not getting the Duster automatic variant for a while now. On the other hand, Brazil is enjoying this very version of the Duster and if their reports are anything to judge by, the Duster AT is doing just fine. As of now in India, Renault is playing the game safely for now as there is no other compact SUV in the market to move on to. At this point, the company knows that it’s still too soon to pop the bubble.
Once the Ford EcoSport is launched in early-2013, it will give a tough competition to the Renault Duster. And if these spy pictures are to be believed, Ford is spotted testing a PowerShift variant of the EcoSport in India and this confirms the launch of automatic variant in India. The EcoSport AT features the similar PowerShift dual clutch automatic gearbox which first made its appearance in India, on the all new Fiesta sedan.
Also see – 2014 Renault Duster facelift rendered picture
Source – Car.Blog.Br
