The Renault Duster was a car that started this trend of compact SUVs all over the country. The French carmaker received a rather good response for the car, which helped it establish itself in our market. When launched in 2012, there were not many cars competing with this SUV but the times have now changed. We have the segment-leading Hyundai Creta, along with the Nissan Kicks and its own sibling the Captur fighting out in this segment. To make the Duster relevant again in the market, Renault is all set to bring a facelift of the SUV to out market. The carmaker recently posted a teaser of this refreshed SUV on its Twitter account.
In the teaser image released by Renault, we see a new headlight assembly the facelifted Duster would come with. The assembly does not look quite different from before but comes with a projector setup inside. One can also spot a strip of the daytime running light which would add more character to the front end of this SUV. The blinker is not LED but uses a conventional yellow bulb instead. We also see abundant chrome to be present on the redesigned grille, giving a more premium appeal to this SUV.
Spy shots of the car seen earlier also revealed that the car will come with redesigned bumpers at both ends, along with additional cladding to enhance the look of the car. The interior would receive a number of changes too, including a new infotainment screen. This new touchscreen system would be offered with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity. Apart from that, expect Renault to offer safety features like dual airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors, seatbelt reminders, high-speed alert and the works as standard across all the trim levels.
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Mechanical changes are not expected to be done in this model and the Duster would continue to use the 1.5-litre petrol and diesel power plants. The petrol motor is tuned to deliver 106 PS and 142 Nm and comes with an optional CVT type automatic gearbox. The oil-burner, on the other hand, is offered in two stages of tune. The former 85 PS/200 Nm stage of tune comes with a 5-speed gearbox while the powerful 110 PS/245 Nm stage of tune gets a 6-speed manual gearbox or an AMT type automatic gearbox. Priced between INR 8 Lakh to INR 13.1 Lakh currently, expect Renault to demand a slight premium when they launch the facelift soon.