Renault and Nissan recently conducted a joint annual conference for FY 2023-24. The French and Japanese carmakers have announced their new product onslaught for the Indian market. Both brands have lost significant market share in the last few years with their portfolios trickling down to a handful of models.
Renault Duster, 7-seat SUV launch confirmed
As we all know, Renault has already announced the return of Duster to India. The third-gen Duster is expected for a market launch around Diwali 2025. Now, the French carmaker has confirmed that a seven-seater SUV based on the Duster will also be brought to India. A test mule of the same was recently spotted doing trial runs in foreign soil.
Both the five-seater Duster and its seven-seat sibling are based on the Dacia Bigster concept which broke cover internationally a couple of years ago and will be underpinned by the new CMF-B co-developed by the Renault-Nissan alliance. The SUVs will share many elements including body panels, exterior styling, equipment, and powertrain between each other.
Nissan to launch own versions of Duster, 7-seat SUV
The Alliance group further announced that Nissan will also launch rebadged versions of both upcoming Renault models. To jog back memories, Nissan earlier offered the Terrano, a rebadged Duster and later the Kicks in the compact C-segment SUV space. While Terrano was discontinued in April 2020, after the implementation of BS6 emission norms, Nissan pulled the plug on Kicks last year with the onset of phase of BS6 standards.
Both Terrano and Kicks couldn’t record any substantial volumes in the Indian market during their tenure. Nissan is hoping to revive its fortunes with the upcoming C-segment SUV duos. The Alliance also shared a teaser image of the upcoming Duster and its Nissan counterpart at the press conference, highlighting their distinct individual design.
The teaser image showed the Renault SUV flaunting a more bold, muscular, and rugged front fascia and grille while the Nissan version looks more sleek and urban. For the uninitiated, the third-gen Renault Duster broke cover internationally last month. So we already have a fair idea what the Duster looks like. Now, we also have some idea that Nissan’s iteration of the SUV will wear a very different top hat.
Renault-Nissan SUVs shared powertrain
Although Renault and Nissan will follow their respective design philosophies, both brands are likely to boast similar specs. The new Renault Duster gets three powertrain options— a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol unit with a mild hybrid system, a turbocharged 1.2-litre petrol unit mated to a 48V battery, and a 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol mill. All-wheel drive options will be offered as per market requirements.
The same pool of powertrain options will be available for Nissan counterparts as well. When launched, Renault Duster and its Nissan sibling will compete against the likes of Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Grand Vitara, Volkswagen Taigun, and Skoda Kushaq, among others. Whereas the 7-seat iterations of the respective SUVs will lock horns with Mahindra XUC700, Tata Safari, MG Hector Plus, and Hyundai Alcazar.
