Renault dealers across India have begun receiving new stock: the facelifted Duster compact SUV, which was launched yesterday. What this also means is that the pre-facelift version of the Duster will no longer be preferred by most customers. This means that the pressure is now on Renault dealers to make the pre-facelift SUV more attractive to buyers. Dealers are doing this by offering attractive discounts of up to Rs. 1 lakh on the pre-facelift Duster, depending on the inventory situation in their stockyards. Dealers are offering Rs. 1 lakh off on all diesel powered variants of the pre-facelift SUV. This discount is split into two components: Rs. 50,000 exchange bonus and Rs. 50,000 cash rebate. Petrol powered variants of the Duster are going at discounts of up to Rs. 30,000. If dealers don’t manage to sell the pre-facelift Duster quickly, expect bigger discounts in the coming weeks.
The pre-facelifted Duster is mechanically similar to the new version, with only cosmetic bits and a few feature additions being key differences. The new Duster gets a bolder, chrome heavy front grille, projector headlamps with LED DRLs, revised alloy wheels, refreshed front and rear bumpers, tweeters on the A-pillars, Arkamys audio codec for the stereo, voice commands for the infotainment unit with supports navigation, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a new steering, cooled glove box, revised center console with rectangular AC vents, a new colour scheme for the dashboard, door trims and seat fabric, new exterior colours including Mahogany Brown and Caspian Blue, new tail lamps and finally a new trim: RXS Option for the all wheel drive and petrol CVT variants.
The engines on the facelifted Duster have been carried over from the pre-facelift version. The petrol motor is a 1.5 liter, naturally aspirated 4 cylinder unit with 104 Bhp-142 Nm. The petrol engine is available only with a front wheel drive layout, and gets two transmission options: a 5 speed manual and a CVT automatic. The diesel engine: the 1.5 liter K9K turbocharged unit, is available in two states of tune: 84 Bhp-200 Nm and 108 Bhp-245 Nm. A 6 speed manual gearbox is standard on the front wheel drive and all wheel drive variants while the former also gets a 6 speed AMT option. The gearbox on the AWD Duster has shorter first and second gears, and the variant also gets independent front suspension. These two aspects make the AWD Duster the best variant for those who love to drive.
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