Produced at the Chennai plant, the Duster has been adapted to conditions in the Indian market and forms part of a range of five vehicles that will be launched over the next 18 months. The other new models include the newly launched Fluence, which made its debut last month, and the forthcoming Koleos.

Renault says the Duster will play a key role in its plans to accelerate sales in India. The brand is looking to increase its current network of 14 dealership to 40 by the end of the year and to 100 by the end of 2012 (covering 55 cities or 90% of the market).

The Duster and all the brand's cars will be covered by a comprehensive package called “Renault Complete Care”, comprising of four-year/80,000 km warranty and a one-year warranty for maintenance and repair, free service coupons at 2,000km, 10,000km and 20,000km and 24/7 assistance.

'We understand that the Indian customer is extremely value conscious, hence our commitment to globally benchmarked product quality, service and after-sales quality and network quality,' said Jerome Stoll, executive VP, Sales and Marketing.