Tag: duster

New Renault Duster to be Unveiled at Frankfurt Motor Show

Renault will be heading to the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show and has already made some exciting announcements. Apart from a new concept car, it has promised the introduction of an all-new Duster at the popular auto show.

The new concept is an interesting prospect, with Renault’s press release mentioning a “new brand identity. However we believe the big newsmaker will be the second incarnation of the French automaker’s successful compact SUV.

The Duster which is sold in India under the Renault badge, is manufactured and sold globally under the badge of Renault’s Romanian budget brand, Dacia. Introduced in 2010, the Dacia Duster has been a massive hit in markets such as the UK, Russia and India, becoming Renault’s best-selling global model. Clearly, the new Duster will have big shoes to fill, and all eyes will be on Renault’s pavilion in Frankfurt, come September 10.

Spyshots of test models have been spotted more than once on the internet. Multiple shots of the new Duster testing in and around Europe show evident cosmetic changes both inside and outside. Exterior changes to the Duster include revised headlights and tail lights, grille, bumpers. It is believed that inside, the new Duster will get most of the upgrades that were shown on the 2013 Dacia Logan sedan. A slightly revised version was spotted testing in Romania five months ago and featured a revised instrument cluster and cruise control. The interior will get a brand new dashboard, better electronics such as a touch screen display, higher quality upholstery and lots more. A lot of these upgrades may not make it to India, but we’re hoping Renault includes the more important ones.

July 24, 2013
Mahindra ‘W4’ XUV500 coming soon as entry-level variant?

According to reports, Mahindra is working on a lower-spec version of its popular XUV500 SUV. Likely to be called the W4, it is expected to be identical mechanically and styling wise to its older siblings, the W6 and W8. However unlike the W8, it will be 2WD only. The W4 will get a more basic infotainment system and an air-con unit without automatic climate control, and will do away with convenience features like rain-sensing wipers and automatic headlamps.

Even though the W4 has been finalised internally, Mahindra has not yet green-lighted this new variant for showrooms. Reportedly Mahindra is waiting to see if new, modified W6 and W8 variants can increase their sales again. The W6 and W8 will now be sold with lesser ground clearance. As a result of the SUV taxes introduced in the 2013 Union Budget, the prices for these models will be lower than current prices as well. Mahindra is looking at a target of about 3,000 units a month, and if it can meet this with the existing models alone, the W4 will be kept on hold.

Sales of the XUV500 have slowly dipped over the last few months. After the new SUV taxes introduced in the budget, the Mahindra XUV500’s prices went up, and the cheaper Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport stole some of its market. With the lowering of the ground clearance, and/or the launch of the smaller W4, the XUV500 may still have a future in the mainstream SUV market.

July 9, 2013
Nissan Terrano to start at Rs. 8.90 lakhs according to reports

According to reports by Motorbeam, the Nissan Terrano will hit Indian markets in October starting at Rs. 8.90 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi). Nissan has taken note of the poor demand for the petrol version of the Duster, which is the equivalent model offered by their sister brand Renault. Due to this, the Nissan Terrano will be offered with a 1.5-litre diesel engine only and no petrol engines be will available. Motorbeam also claims to have a studio picture, as posted on their site, which isn’t the same as the official sketch released by Nissan a few weeks ago.

The compact SUV will be offered in four variants which; XL, XL (O), XV and XV premium. The 1.5-litre diesel engine under its hood produces 85 hp of power and 200 Nm of torque and power will be transferred to the wheel through a 5-speed manual gearbox. Nissan will offer all variants of the Terrano with driver side airbags as standard, something which it does on its other cars as well.

The difference between the Nissan Terrano and Renault Duster will be purely cosmetic, including smoked headlights, new front grille, new bumper, new alloy wheels and new tail lights. The interiors will see minor changes regarding the fabric of the seats. The base variant of the diesel Renault Duster (RxE) is priced at Rs. 8.73 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi).

[Source: Motorbeam]

June 21, 2013
Nissan Confirms Duster Spin-off Called Terrano

After reports from Autocar India about Nissan producing its own version of Renault’s Duster, Nissan has confirmed the rumours by announcing the Terrano and releasing an official sketch.

The Terrano will be produced at Nissan’s Oragadam plant alongside the premium hatchback Micra, Sunny sedan and Evalia urban class utility vehicle, expanding Nissan’s locally-built model range to four.

I am delighted to reveal both the name and the very first image of what will be a very important model for Nissan. You can see from the sketch that the Terrano has a bold and distinctive design that I am confident will appeal to our growing customer base in India, as will its driving performance and range of other features that will be revealed at a later date.

– Kenichiro Yomura, President & CEO, Nissan Motor India

The Nissan Terrano is expected to be launched in India in 2013.

[Autocar India]

June 11, 2013
Nissan planning on Renault Duster spin-off called Terrano

It has been reported by Autocar India, that Nissan is going to flex its alliance with Renault to spin off a Duster of its own. Just as it did with the Sunny, Nissan will resurrect the Terrano nametag, a moniker once used for the Pathfinder when it was introduced way back in 1993 and discontinued in 2006. The new model will feature unique sheetmetal to give it a look similar to other Nissan SUVs. But the interior as well as the powertrain is expected to be the same, meaning there will be a range of gasoline and diesel four-cylinder engines with both manual and automatic gearboxes and front- or all-wheel drive. However, the Terrano is expected to be priced Rs. 50,000- Rs. 75,000 more than the Duster, unlike other Nissan models which are priced lower to their Renault counterparts.

This has to do with an agreement in the Renault-Nissan Alliance. When Renault badge engineers a Nissan car, the Renault version has to be priced higher than its Nissan donor and vice versa. This is why the Nissan Sunny is cheaper than its badge-engineered compatriot, the Renault Scala. In this case, since Nissan will be the one borrowing the Duster, the Terrano will be priced higher.

The car will come with a new bumper, tailgate, headlamps and tail-lights. The badge-engineered Terrano is expected to be launched by the end of this year.

[Autocar India]

June 9, 2013