The 'Price Warrior' Sports Utility Vehicle, Duster takes Renault up the sales chart in October 2012

The Indian sub-division of French car manufacturer, Renault has recorded a 40 per cent hike in the monthly sales of October, 2012 at 6,790 units, largely owing to the Duster Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). In the year ago period, the company had only Fluence sedan and Koleos SUV in its Indian line-up, and reported a sales volume of just 173 units with 114 and 59 units of Fluence and Koleos sold, respectively. Currently, the portfolio of the auto maker comprises five models including Pulse, Duster, Scala, Fluence and Koleos. The monthly sales recorded in the month of October this year is the highest ever for Renault ever since it forayed in the Indian market back in May, 2011.

The 'Price Warrior' Sports Utility Vehicle, Duster takes Renault up the sales

Out of 6790 units sold in the last month, the best-selling SUV, Duster amounted for highest number of sales at 5,406 units. Meanwhile, Scala sold 737 units, Pulse 483 units, Koleos 57 units and Fluence 107 units. At present, the main focus of the brand is to take its dealership network to comprise 100 dealers from present 75 by the year end.

Commenting on the statistics achieved in the month of October, 2012, Marc Nassif, Managing Director, Renault India, stated, “We are highly pleased with our sales figures and we are glad to see that the Indian customer has accepted Renault products very well, especially the Renault Duster. We at Renault are very positive towards our entire product range and our growing dealer network has also added to our growth in sales and reaching the customers on a pan-India level”.

However, Nassif expressed that the market sentiments in the festive season this year are not as favourable as it was in 2011. This could be mainly because of Renault India's decision to hike the price of Duster by Rs. 40,000 with effect from October 1, 2012. The car, which was introduced during the 2012 Indian Auto Expo at New Delhi, comes in two variants of 1.6 litre petrol and 1.5 litre diesel.