Renault India hikes Duster price by up to Rs. 40,000

Renault India has announced that it will hike the price of its Duster SUV by up to Rs. 40,000 from October 1 owing to rising input costs and foreign exchange instability. It may be recalled that the French carmaker had launched the Duster in July with introductory price of Rs 7.19 lakh for the entry level petrol variant and Rs. 7.99 lakh (Ex showroom Delhi) for diesel. Duster has received 20,000 bookings since launch. "The price for Duster petrol variant will see a price increase by Rs 30,000 whereas the Duster diesel will see a price revision by Rs. 40,000," the company said in a statement, adding “The new prices will be effective from October 1, 2012 and the introductory price will be maintained for all the bookings made until the end of August 2012, delivered or not at the time of the price hike, the company said. Commenting on the development, Renault India Managing Director Marc Nassif said: "Facing 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 Renault Duster. To meet the demand for the Duster the company has increased production to three shifts in Chennai factory as well as the outputs of vendors, he added. The diesel variant is powered by a 1.5 litre engine, while the petrol variant has a 1.6 litre engine.