First Dacia Duster SUVs leave India bound for the UK

The first Dacia Duster SUVs built in RHD for the UK market left India this morning to help satisfy Renault’s growing order book for the Duster.

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Renault may be struggling to sell its mainstream cars in the current economic climate, but it’s having no problems shifting cars in its budget Dacia range, with the ‘Shockingly Affordable’ Dacia Duster SUV racking up orders from budget conscious motorists in the UK.

With the sort of response the Duster has received in the UK – with prices for the entry-level Duster starting at just £9k – Renault are no doubt wishing they’d brought the Duster to the UK sooner.

But such was the demand for the Duster in mainland Europe and emerging markets that they just couldn’t get production of RHD Dusters organised for the UK until now, when Renault’s plant at Oragadam, near Chennai in India, finally managed to satisfy its home market demand sufficiently to leave enough capacity for RHD cars bound for the UK and Ireland to roll off the production line.

We had an email from the ever-helpful Shrawan at India Autos Blog this morning to tell us that Renault’s UK customers for the Duster won’t have long to wait for their new cars, as they’d spotted the first UK spec Dusters boarding a ship at Ennore Port, on the way to the UK.

The initial shipment of Dusters heading for the UK is 350 cars with another 350 due to leave in January. That won’t satisfy the order book Dacia already has for the Duster (more than 1,000 orders so far) but it will make a dent.

Hopefully, for those Dacia Duster customers who’ve order the 4WD Duster, the first snow won’t hit until their new car arrives.