The Renault Duster SUV, which was first launched in India in July 2012 and discontinued in early 2022, is being relaunched today in its third-generation avatar and marks the French OEM’s return to one of the most competitive SUV sub-segments. Over a decade, the first-generation Duster is estimated to have sold close to 199,871 units (see data table below) in the Indian market.
The Renault Duster has the distinction of being the model that kickstarted the monocoque midsize SUV segment, which had rivals such as the Hyundai Creta which was launched three years after the Duster in July 2015 and has gone on to be the longstanding midsize SUV market leader.
FY2014 (46,786 units) was the first-gen Renault Duster’s best fiscal year when it had a 9% share of the 525,942 utility vehicles sold in India. Decadal wholesales were a shade below 200,000 units.
In the first nine months of FY2013, the Duster sold 39,188 units which gave the midsize SUV a 7% share of the total utility vehicle sales of 553,662 units that fiscal. FY2014 turned out to be Duster’s best fiscal year: 46,786 units, up 19% YoY, which gave it a 9% share of the UV segment’s 525,942 units and the rank of fifth best-selling UV after the Mahindra Bolero (107,177 units), Maruti Ertiga, Toyota Innova and the Mahindra Scorpio (50,949 units).
FY2014 was also the launch year for the Ford EcoSport which rolled out in in June 2013 and sold 45,008 units – just 1,778 fewer units than the Duster – in 10 months of sale. From FY2015 onwards, the Ford EcoSport went on to outsell the Duster: FY2015 — Duster: 39,280 units / EcoSport: 52,058 units, FY2016 – Duster: 18,045 units / EcoSport: 40,160 units and FY2017 – Duster: 18,947 units / EcoSport: 48,547 units. Both SUVs crossed the 150,000 sales mark in early July 2016 but the EcoSport’s rate of growth was a lot faster than the Duster mainly due to the Ford SUV’s aggressive pricing and being a compact SUV of less than 4-metre length which was levied a lower excise duty.
As the decadal wholesales data table depicts, the Renault Duster’s sales kept falling year on year. In May 2017, the base variant of the made-in-India Renault Duster received a zero-star rating for adult occupant protection in the Global NCAP crash test. On including a single driver airbag in the vehicle, the test result improved to three stars for adult occupant protection. Finally, in early 2022, Renault India pulled the Duster out of the market. On July 21, 2022, Ford ended EcoSport production in India.
Now, six years later, Renault is reviving the Duster nameplate in India albeit in its third-generation avatar with an ambition of capturing a slice of the growing midsize SUV market. In CY2025, a record 2.95 million UVs were sold in India with compact SUVs (14,33,888 units) accounting for a 48% share albeit their growth tapered down to 5% last year. There’s growing demand for midsize SUVs which are set to come into their own in CY2026. It is this momentum which Renault India plans to capture with the new Duster.
RETURN OF THE DUSTER IN A NEW AVATAR
Renault India is betting big on the third-generation Duster, which will be the the first product to be launched under the brand’s International Game Plan 2027 in India. The SUV is a key pillar of the company’s India-centric transformation strategy ‘Renault. Rethink.’, which began with the facelifted Triber and Kiger SUVs launched last year.
The new Duster is based on the Renault CMF-B platform which has been localized for production at the Sriperumbudur plant which has a manufacturing capacity of 480,000 units per annum.
According to Renault India, the new Duster has been undergone a comprehensive global testing programme, covering a million kilometres across three continents between minus 23deg C to 55deg C, across R&D tracks, proving grounds, and public road circuits, ensuring it can handle diverse road conditions. The aim is to ensure the new Duster “is ready to carry forward the legacy of the previous generation, while raising the benchmark for rugged capability and on-road safety.” Furthermore, the MY2026 Duster was subjected to rigorous testing on specialised government tracks like NATRAX, ARAI, GARC, and ICAT, tested for its readiness in rough terrain, different speedbreaker profiles, as well as the demands of bumper-to-bumper city traffic.
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