New Delhi, October 1, 2012: Renault India has hiked the prices of the Duster SUV, effective from today. While the petrol-engined model sees a price increase by Rs 30,000, the diesel variant has its sticker price go up by Rs 40,000.

The vehicle, which has received a very good market response with over 20,000 bookings, was launched in July 2012 at an introductory price of Rs 7.19 lakh for its entry petrol variant.

Commenting on the increased prices, Marc Nassif, managing director, Renault India, said: “We had launched the Duster with a very attractive introductory price and the response from the customers has been tremendous. To meet the demand for the Duster, we have increased our production to three shifts in our Chennai factory as well as the outputs from our vendors. Faced an increase in raw material prices and instability in foreign exchange, factors which are beyond our control, we had to increase the retail price of the Duster.”

Meanwhile, Renault India is increasing its dealership network to provide sales and service support across India. At present, it has 70 dealerships which will increase to 100 by the end of 2012.