In a move first announced two years ago, new images have emerged of the first batch of Indian-made Renault Duster en-route to South Africa.

Romania out

Set to replace the current Duster sourced from the Dacia plant in Mioveni, Romania, the first shipment of 750 Dusters departed from the port of Chennai on Monday (22 June), arriving within the coming weeks.

New Renault Duster Export Begins From India, First Shipment To South Africahttps://t.co/1w60OouZT8 pic.twitter.com/UjCn7rgQgy
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“The start of exports of the all-new Duster is an important moment for Renault India and a strong validation of the quality, capabilities, and competitiveness of our operations in Chennai,” Renault Group India CEO, Stephane Deblaise, said in a statement.

“It reflects the progress we have made in building India into an integral part of Renault’s global industrial footprint”.

What has changed?

Fundamentals

Revealed back in January, the Indian Duster retains the CMF-B platform from its Romanian sibling, but with both visual and dimensional differences.

Underneath, the alterations are as follows:

Country	Length	Wheelbase	Height	Width	Ground Clearance
Romania	4 343 mm	2 657 mm	1 661 mm	1 813 mm	209 mm
India	4 343 mm	2 657 mm	1 669 mm	1 921 mm	212 mm

At the same time, the Indian Duster also has more boot space, with between 518 and 1 789-litres available. By comparison, the Romanian Duster offers up between 472 and 1 609-litres of space.

Exterior

Visually, the Indian Duster’s differences include new front and rear bumpers, a new grille with block letter Duster instead of Renault badging, integrated imitation skidplate and nudge bar, and wider air inlets on the flanks of the front bumper.

*_{Rear facia of the Indian-made Duster. Picture: Renault India}*

Not stopping there, the Dacia corporate Y-shaped LED headlight graphics have been dropped, the shoulder line underneath the D-pillar redesigned and the design of the alloy wheels also changed.

*_{Rear facia of the Romanian assembled Duster is significantly different from the Indian version. Picture: motor1.com Brazil}*

Finally, the rear facia gains a new bumper and integrated imitation skidplate, a blacked numberplate cavity finish and new light clusters connected by an LED light bar running the full width of the tailgate below the window.

Inside

Just as prominent, the interior redesign reportedly involves improved materials – a key criticism of the Romanian model – and a dashboard layout similar to the new Clio and 5.

*_{Interior of the Indian-made Duster has been revised in several key areas compared to the Romanian version. Picture: Renault India}*

Central to the latter is a new seven-inch or 10.25-inch instrument cluster, now standing opposite the 10.1-inch infotainment display in a “one piece” layout.

*_{Romanian Duster’s interior received extensive backlash for its less than premium feeling materials given its price. Picture: Renault}*

Also new are the air vents, the central hangdown section below the infotainment system and the centre console, with changes having also been made to the steering wheel.

Powertrains

Up front, only the Daimler co-developed 1.3 TCe has been caried over, with outputs of 118kW/280Nm in the Indian-made Duster.

Gone, though, is the mild-hybrid 1.2 TCe, which takes with it the four-wheel drive system not available, for now, on any version of the Indian model.

In its place, the Duster will now seemingly have the 1.0 TCe with 74kW/160Nm as its base engine option.

*_{Indian-market Duster will replace the current version assembled in Romania. Picture: Renault India}*

Standard transmissions for both is a six-speed manual or an optional seven-speed EDC in the case of the 1.3.

Finally, hybrid propulsion looks set to remain, this time in the guise of the E-Tech 160 that combines a normally aspirated 1.8-litre petrol engine with a 1.4-kWh battery pack.

The latter powering two electric motors, the self-charging setup produces 118 kW and is connected to a multi-mode transmission.

*_{Change in appearance of the depicted Romanian Duster and Indian version is easy to spot. Picture: Renault}*

First used in the last generation Clio, the multi-mode combines a conventional four-speed automatic with the pair of ratios provided by the electric motors for an effective six-speed automatic gearbox.

As mentioned, the departure of the mild-hybrid means the Duster also loses its four-wheel drive configuration.

However, Renault has indicated that an all-paw gripping system could be offered given its continuing availability on the Romanian version.

Planned move

Speaking at a preview showing of the Duster at the end of 2024, then Renault South Africa Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, Zian van Heerden, said the change in sourcing from Romania first had been a strategic decision in order for the plant in Chennai to be readied.

Aside from the Duster, the facility will also soon start producing the rebadged Nissan Tekton, which will make its world debut on 9 July before arriving in South Africa later this year.

In addition to the change in sourcing hub, the Indian-Duster is expected to come with a noticeable price drop over the Romanian version.

At present, pricing for the three-model Duster range is as follows:

Duster 1.3 TCe Zen EDC – R489 999
Duster 1.3 TCe Intens EDC – R519 999
Duster 1.2 TCe Zen 4×4 – R549 999

Stay tuned

As it stands, Renault South Africa still to announce an official launch and final specification of the “new” Duster.

Therefore, expect an announcement to made within the coming weeks.