New Renault DusterStephane Deblaise was literally over the moon after the recent unveiling of the all-new Duster in Chennai. It was a massive, glittering event which took place in a stadium on a pleasant evening that coincided with India’s Republic Day.
“January 26 is a very iconic day and this is why we decided to launch another icon on this occasion. The new Duster is made in India and made for India. What a better day to unveil it!” the CEO, Renault Group India, told ET Auto.
Terming the event “amazing” he added that it was to drive home the message that the “Duster is back but Renault is back as well”. According to Deblaise, this was the first cornerstone and and “you will see us revealing other topics soon”.
For now, the focus would be solely on the Duster 100 and 160 hp versions as well as the Duster hybrid e-tech where 80 per cent of the time would be spent in EV mode within the city. Hybrid, he continued, has been a very “strong discussion” point internally at Renault had now emerged as a strong statement with Duster.
Hybrid is the best solution
“We are a company which believes in the transition to the best solution for CO2 and hybrid is the way to go en route to BEVs. If you need to have multipurpose usage, it is a very good answer. Our solution allows you to drive 80 per cent of your time in the city in EV mode which improves fuel economy,” explained Deblaise. Beyond that, the hybrid “gives you the EV feeling which is very comfortable for you because you do not have any noise”. From his point of view, brand Duster was also about igniting memories of its initial avatar as the compact SUV which set the sales charts afire way back in 2012.
“And when you drive this car, you will see the difference. It is a Duster but completely modernised with very good ride and handling, amazing NVH and very good comfort. It is the best car in this segment in the market. We are here to win,” he proclaimed.
Laurens van den Acker, Chief Design Officer, Renault Group, admitted that the rebirth of Duster was a “difficult challenge” because people wanted to find the Duster of their memories even though the world had changed dramatically.
We are a company which believes in the transition to the best solution for CO2 and hybrid is the way to go en route to BEVsStephane Deblaise, CEO, Renault Group India
Keeping the spirit and fundamentals alive
“We could not just do a copy, paste of the old Duster because this would not have been good enough. We needed to keep its spirit and fundamentals alive along with its practicality, go-anywhere spirit and the fact that you feel like you want to start an adventure if you get into the car,” he explained. This was extremely important but “then we loaded it up with things” that were important for a young, ambitious, technologically-savvy country. Hence, LED headlights, connectivity inside, Google Maps etc were also incorporated to offer “one of the best systems” around in the world.
According to van den Acker, other aspects like sheer practicality in terms of a 700-litre space were also factored in along with hybrid technology for the powertrain as well as some of the driving chassis which is “the best in the segment” by far. “We tried to keep the fundamentals intact and then raise everything else,” he added.
In his view, Renault had the advantage of being in India not just as a brand but along with a design team since 2005. “So we have built up first-hand knowledge of what an Indian customer wants. We have young designers who love driving and (love) their Dusters also,” said van den Acker.
As a result, they live the life that “we want to capture” and this was probably one of the biggest edges that Renault had vis-a-vis other competitors in that “we have a presence here since a long time”. The new Duster was conceived in India and made in India with the help “that we could give” from France.
India as a good, moving market
Describing India as a “very good, moving market”, Deblaise was confident that the sky was the limit for Renault. “When things are moving, it means more opportunities. “And this is why we are here, to take these opportunities. The market is more than moving, it is actually growing. It is going towards more value rather than price,” he said.
In the past, it was “price, price, price” but now people were very sensitive to value as well and this is where Duster would offer the most valuable proposition to the customer. The Renault team had a lot of discussions on whether or not to put the Duster name on the front grille since it was not a common practice.
“But we thought it was a very good move because it was consistent with this icon. Sometimes stories are linked to very small details,” said Deblaise. It is a view that van den Acker endorses in his role as a designer.
So we have built up first-hand knowledge of what an Indian customer wants. We have young designers who love driving and (love) their Dusters alsoLaurens van den Acker, Chief Design Officer, Renault Group
Honouring the Duster legacy
“We felt that the Duster is a special case in India and you could argue that it is better known than the Renault brand. We wanted to honour the legacy of Duster and the role it has played in our development in India. And we hope that by putting Duster on the front, a lot more people will raise their finger and start signing,” he explained .
There are some stitches inside the car too where the word Duster is inscribed which pretty much puts in context why Renault did not leave any stone unturned in the rebranding exercise. After all, Duster literally rewrote the revival script for the company many years ago and could be well poised for an encore this time around.
It is now nearly five months since Deblaise took charge as Group CEO and the time spent has been “both easy and difficult” since the Indian market is very different from others in the world.
“There are a lot of common points too but it is not a walk in the park to be here in India. For me, this has been a pleasurable and interesting experience to be part of this adventure in India,” he added.
Getting back to Duster, Deblaise reiterated, “You do not use or buy a car, you buy travel. We sell dreams, we do not sell steel. It is the best Duster of Renault that has ever been produced.
Global design language no longer valid
According to van den Acker, the whole concept of a global design language, as it existed 10-years ago “where you had a design trend and everyone was jumping on the bandwagon”, is not true any longer. “I think we have become a little bit more pragmatic in the sense that cars are changing so fast and we want to offer the best to the customer,” he said.
This obviously mean that companies like Renault want to ensure an identity that is “recognisable” between the vehicles in a lineup. “We need tough cars, aerodynamic cars for EVs and sophisticated cars for the compact market in Europe. We need big practical cars and functional cars too,” continued van den Acker.
This explains why he and his team at Renault allowed themselves a little bit more flexibility in the design language to make sure that “we give the right thing” to the customer. “I think there is probably no object which is more complex to design as a car, and also more interesting and exciting,” he said.
This is because even “if you take all the constraints in mind, you still start with a white piece of paper and a sketch, and you end up pushing a start button and driving a car out of a factory”. Hence, as he laughingly added, the magic of designing a car was still alive, even if everyone else “tries to make our jobs very hard” on a daily basis.
Age demographics and design
“You have younger countries like India and some African nations but you also have ageing regions like Japan, Korea and Europe with completely different needs. So, I am not out of a job yet!” quipped van den Acker.
Does that become a difficult job in terms of striking the right balance across different parts of the world? “Of course it does but the good thing is, you do not really design for the age of the customer but (you design) for what they aspire to be,” he replied.
What was also interesting is somebody who is 18 aspires to be 25 or 30 while somebody who is 60 aspires to be 30. “So, there is hope for us,” smiled van den Acker.
