Renault Duster: The Pioneer of the Compact SUV Segment is Back

Remember the Renault Duster? This vehicle was the first ever front-wheel drive SUV, gaining immense popularity and creating the compact SUV segment in India. The Duster was discontinued from the Indian market in 2022 because of poor sales. Now there is some good news- the Duster is making a comeback. Let’s get into details and see if the vehicle will be able to rule the heart of Indian compact SUV lovers and become the leader of the segment which it created back in 2012.

Remember the Name?

Renault and Nissan have recently announced the co-development of four cars for the Indian market. Two iterations will be five-seater SUVs and other two will be seven-seater versions based on the same platform. While we do not know what Nissan will call their five-seater car, we can confidently say that Renault will call theirs the Duster. Back in the time, Nissan’s version of Duster was called Terrano, but we do not know what the name of this new car will be.

Renault Duster Build and Design

The Renault Duster will be based on Renault-Nissan’s well-renowned CMF-B platform, this platform has been widely used by both brands for several models worldwide along with Renault’s sister brand Dacia. A new teaser released by the brand reveals a slightly redesigned headlight and front bumper, compared to the global CMF-B-based Duster. These changes might be made to bring the upcoming car’s design on par with ongoing models of this segment.

The Seven-Seaters

Like every other seven-seater derivate of five-seaters in the market, this duo will have a similar design with slight changes, the same engine and transmission options, an extra row of seats and a longer wheelbase to fit all this in. The seven-seater SUVs will compete with Mahindra XUV 700, Tata Safari, Hyundai Alcazar etc.

The Powertrain

As per a reliable source, the upcoming Renault Duster and its Nissan counterpart will launch in India with only petrol engines. There will be two turbo-petrol engines. The entry-level mill, the HR 10 which powers Nissan’s Magnite and Renault’s Kiger will be used here with an alternate state of tune to produce more power. The second engine option is a Mercedes-sourced 1.3-litre turbo-petrol unit, this engine was available with the previous generation of Duster, Mercedes Benz A Class Sedan, and Nissan Kicks. These engines will probably be coupled with either a 6-speed manual or a CVT across variants.

The base variants of both cars might get a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre petrol burner to keep the pricing in check. There is no hope for any diesel engine.

India Launch and Pricing

The five-seaters will debut in the Indian market in the second half of 2025 and their seven-seater derivatives will follow them after a year. Both Renault and Nissan will launch their five-seater SUV around the same time. These products will face immense competition from the current market leaders like the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Grand Vitara, etc. There are no official figures out yet but we can guess the pricing to be similar to the rest of the competition, which gives us a rough starting price of 12-14 lakh (ex-showroom) for the base variant. This is just my speculation, this may not match the official pricing by the brand.