Renault Duster facelift launched! Whats good and whats not?

Renault India has launched the facelifted version of Duster with a tag ' Even bolder ' and this time they have launched the Triber recently and with a very small gap they have launched the Duster also. So, here are the things we are going to discuss it.

1. Engines: There are no mechanical changes in the engine department except the CVT gearbox in petrol and they are same as before with power figures of 85 Ps for Petrol and 109 Ps of power in Diesel with an AMT and this there is no AWD with the automatic combination.

2. Interiors and Exteriors: They have made some changes in the design department which have freshly designed grille and also they have added projector headlamps and this is the main factor to distinguish if it's a facelift or not? Apart from these, they have also added the leather seats to get more premium feel inside and other changes include the 8-inch media nav touch system that has both android, apple car play and also navigation in it. Coming to the tyres they are the same 16-inch tyres with a new diamond cut alloy design and coming to the rear profile of the car it has changed to look more sporty with the black bodywork in between the tail lamps and also the skid plates at front and rear gives us more rugged appeal than any other vehicle in this range for sure. Interiors are tuned to look more sporty but they have worked in a decent way.

Starting from 7.99-12.55 lakhs price range it is for sure a very good option to purchase and also going with the design, features it offers and the presence it has I think it is a good option because no other car in this segment at this price range is not as good as this in interior space, boot, decent features list and moreover the AWD is not at all offered by any car manufacturer at this price point.

Let us discuss briefly on the list of the pros and cons:

Pros:
1. Bolder and rugged looking SUV.
2. Space in the rear and boot is good enough for packing more luggage and 3 people can be seated very comfortably.
3. Price is the biggest USP for Duster when we consider the space, AWD and also the looks and presence it has. It is a very good looking SUV in my opinion when you consider the price point.
4. Interiors are now more plush with those leather seats and also the infotainment system does have the android and apple car play features along with Navigation with rear parking camera and guidelines.
5. Finally, they have added the projector headlamps and the newly designed alloys do look chunky and are good enough for offroading enthusiasts. 

6. Safer body structure with 4 airbags and also safety features include ESC, Hill Hold.

Cons: 

1. Interiors are still outdated with the placement of the infotainment system down while others are making them as accessible as possible for the driverswhile Renault is still going with their conventional approach.
2. No unique features related to the current industry competition except some minor tweaks they have made to ensure customers that they have done some changes to the vehicle.
3. No Sunroof, powered driver seat, futuristic looking touch system all these could have added in the vehicle to make it more desirable for customers.
4. Features are more for the AMT version and they have omitted the features unnecessarily from the RXS and given all the features for RXZ which is the AMT version. It looks like now they are trying to sell the AMT versions more instead of the manual AWD one. This will impact on the sales because AMT gearboxes respond slowly and the response is quite laggy.
I will post a separate one on what additional features can improve the sales and also desirability in the current industry standards. Please comment down your views on this post.
Note: Images are sourced from the internet.