Renault to ramp up Duster production in order to meet the Indian demand

Renault, the French auto maker, seems to be overwhelmed by the appreciation received by its compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Duster and thus, has plans to further ramp up its production. The decision by the auto maker arrived after receiving 15,000 bookings of its iconic model within just two months in the Indian passenger vehicle market. The company operates with Japanese car maker Nissan as its global alliance partner and has a joint manufacturing facility in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

The Duster SUV has become the most successful car for the Renault-Nissan Joint Venture (JV) in the country and the company officials have revealed that their Chennai plant will soon dedicate all three-shifts to the assembling of the compact SUV.

Reportedly, the Renault Scala saloon was supposed to be launched in October in the country but the French auto maker rushed its launch to capitalise on the overwhelming buzz generated by Duster for Renault in the market. The Scala sedan is a re-badged version of Nissan Sunny and is directed at the highly competitive entry-level sedan segment.

The compact SUV Duster is developed by Renault's low-end brand Dacia and was originally directed at the European auto markets. Renault will soon be exporting the Duster to South Africa and United Kingdom by this year's end and hence the car maker is hastening the car's production at its Orgadam manufacturing facility near Chennai.

The fabulous success story of Duster has baffled the industry experts as such reception by the Indian car enthusiasts was not expected. Evidently, the car has no direct counterparts in the market and many auto makers including Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) and Ford are working hard towards bringing their own products aimed at the compact SUV segment. M&M will launch its Quanto Mutli Utility Vehicle (MUV) on September 20 this month while Ford will bring its EcoSport at the Indian shores in the first half of 2013. The Ford EcoSport will be the Duster's first real competitor in the Indian car market.

Currently, the Indian buyers have to wait for about two months to get behind the wheel of Renault Duster post booking and the car's colour preference is expected to further defer its arrival.