When Renault launched one of the most anticipated cars of the year, the highlight was the price that started at Rs 2.56 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi. The pricing came as a surprise as most of the estimates never quoted below Rs 3 lakh. One of the main reasons why Renault managed to price the Kwid at such an affordable range is the 98% localisation it has achieved.

Understanding the benefit of massive localisation, Renault India is planning to increase the localisation of the popular Duster SUV to 80% from current 70%, reports Autocarpro.

"It is true that when there is a new launch, the customer tries to move towards that. The Duster is a very proven car and that is why we are seeing those customers coming back to us. We will continuously keep doing things with the Duster as it is our flagship brand and are increasing the localisation in the Duster to over 80% shortly. It is currently in the 70s," says Sumit Sawhney, country CEO and managing director, Renault.

One of the reasons that prompted Renault to increase the localisation could be the fall in sales. Renault sold 7,560 units of Dusters during the period of April to August 2015, which is far less compared to the 16,216 units in April-August 2014.

The increase in localisation will also benefit Renault to price the upcoming face lifted version competitively. Unlike the launch year of 2012, Renault Duster has many rivals now - leading with Hyundai Creta. A slight fluctuation in price is good enough to change the favour of customers to other manufacturers. Since Duster is the bread and butter model for the French manufacturer, a major change in price is not expected.

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