New offering

New Delhi, June 21: French car maker Renault is all set to launch the Duster hatchback next year.

Renault will position the car against Maruti Suzuki’s Swift, which is the leader in hatchback.

“In January 2012, we will launch a hatchback in B to B+ segment. It is specifically designed for Indian customers by our Mumbai centre,” Philippe Klein, executive vice-president (product planning and programme) of Renault, said.

The car would be unveiled at the Auto Expo here in January.

Renault said it would launch the Koleos SUV by the end of this year. India will be among the first countries where the car would go on sale.

“All the cars will be assembled at the Chennai facility,” Klein said.

Renault expects the competitive pricing and better fuel efficiency of the Duster to give it an edge over the Swift.

This will be the second car launched by the company in the country after the sedan Fluence. The company had announced the launch of five vehicles by the end of 2012.

With a committed investment of Rs 4,500 crore by 2015, Renault’s facility in Chennai is fully operational with one assembly line. The second line will be installed by the middle of this year, taking the capacity to 4 lakh cars a year.

According to company officials, the plant is of a flexible type, manufacturing both Nissan and Renault vehicles on a single line. Renault plans to set up a power train assembly line.

Japanese car maker Nissan and Renault had joined hands in 2008 to set up the facility at Oragadam.

Low-cost car

Renault has said its proposed low-cost car with Bajaj Auto for India has the least priority till 2012 when it is scheduled to be launched, according to PTI.

“As we have announced earlier, five cars are going to be launched by 2012. They are the priority and there is no ultra low-cost car in this,” Renault India managing director Marc Nassif said.