Duster Essay

1 RENAULT DUSTER: COMPACT SUV SEGMENT CREATOR:

Duster created hype in Indian automobile industry & it was instant hit in Indian market. It created unparalleled sensation as compare to any new launch of car in Indian market.1.2 L turbo-charged, 5 seater car with enormous space & sporty look created compact SUV segment in Indian market & its success can be observed by increase in market share of Renault in Indian market. Duster accounts for 81% Renault’s India sales & 100% export also it has 20% market share in compact SUV segment. Though Renault India has big product portfolio in India with 6-8 vehicle in all segments, Dusters comprises of 67% of Renaults India’s total sale. These figures give fair idea of how Duster improves positioning of

But due to poor style design & less marketing efforts it was total failure. Renault was looking for volume growing car. It had already launch pulse & Logan but they had not created buzz as Duster does for Renault. Duster launched in 2012 & its success can be seen by initial booking crosses 18000 in just 2 months. Many people canceled booking of XUV500 (enjoying greater waiting period in 2012) & switched to Duster. Renault is product of intensive market research. They have made 41 changes in European Duster to suit it Indian condition. They have identified that Indian consumers give extreme importance to exterior look, leg space, power window, chrome plating on windows, dual tone interior, and alloy wheel. Rear Ac vent came out as must be features in Indian research. Duster incorporated all these features in Indian cars & made marvelous success.

Renault India sales doubled in July 2013 at 3,763 units from 1,776 units in the same period of previous year. Before launch of Duster, Renault was a small negligible player. But launch of Duster, Renault has increased a market share of 8 %( & 20% in compact SUV market in the UV segment from almost zero.

Ford was not very successful with its previous launches like Ford classic, Fiesta or Ikon. They could not create buzz or volume driver for Ford. With launch of Ford figo they were somewhat successful

Ford has increased their production by starting third shift to unmet increasing demand. Compact SUV now contributes over 55% of Ford's total sales in India.
Strong competition: Success of any new vehicle can be judge by its initial booking. So far Hyundai i10 was considered as most successful launch because of it managed to get 10,000 bookings within 20 days of its launch. In comparison, the Honda Amaze had managed 22,000 bookings in three weeks while the Eco Sport ran to 50,000 bookings within 50 days of launch. In this comparision Ford Ecosport is clear cut winner over other cars.
1) There is constant decline in market share as well as continuous decline in sales of hatchback cars. E.g Hundai i20 sales decreased from 5700 to around 3212 as per data of team bhp & autoportal.com (http://autoportal.com/newcars/hyundai/i20/sales-statistics). This gives clear idea that consumers are shifting towards compact SUV segments
2) Sales of premium SUV/MUV segments is nearly constant and there is less switching from this segment to newly created segment as value offered is much more & consumer who can afford these cars are not ready to compromise on SUV features & they are ready to pay premium prices fir