The Duster is sold under the Dacia brand name in some markets and as the Renault Duster in many markets. We saw a facelifted version of the Dacia-badged crossover at the end of August and it was officially unveiled at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show a month later. Now, Renault has unveiled its version of the Duster compact SUV and it features a design very similar to that of its Romanian twin.
The facelifted Renault Duster gets the same facelifted fascia as the Dacia Duster but its grille only has a single slat as compared to the other car. It is the same case with the rest of the external design including the slated branded roof rails which now says Renault instead of Dacia.
The interiors gets a major overhaul in the form of new gauges, redesigned front seats, repositioning of the power window switches and new upholstery options which includes leather on the higher spec variants. The Media NAV infotainment system which is currently an optional extra is now expected to become a permanent feature on the top spec variants.
The Renault Duster will continue to be powered by the 1.5-litre diesel in two states of tune. It will churn out 85PS and 110PS respectively and will have a 1.6-litre petrol and a new turbocharged 1.2-litre TCe petrol engine to rival Ford’s 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine. While the 1.6-litre petrol has been mated to a five-speed manual, the diesels and the 1.2-litre petrol have been mated to a six-speed manual.
We expect that Renault will unveil the car and if not a launch during the 2014 Indian Auto Expo scheduled to begin in February.
Source: Renault's Facebook Page