The Renault/Dacia Duster has been a runaway success for the French manufacturer in India (over 19000 models sold since July 2012) and now the same is happening in the UK. The base model of the Duster, called the Access variant, now has a five-month waiting period. However, we are not surprised as the compact SUV had got over 1000 bookings even before a single model arrived in England.
Renault shipped the first batch of 350 Dusters from Chennai in November and this petrol and diesel variants in both two-wheel and four-wheel driven guises. While the diesel variants have sold well in the Indian market, the petrol version Access variant which does not even have an AC or music system and costs just under 9000 GBP (Rs 7.5 lakh) has been a major success in the UK.
The company says that it has now got over bookings for the Duster and this has answered many of its critics who labelled the entry price as an attention grabbing stunt. The Duster’s good fortunes does not end there, CAP, an automotive management company, the base-model of the compact SUV will retain 33.6 per cent of its value after three years/96560 km.
Source: Motor Torque