Renault India has launched the under Rs 8 lakh SUV and that has attracted much competition from other SUVs in the country. Notable among them are Tata Safari, Mahindra Scorpio, Premier Rio and there are two upcoming SUVs viz. Ford Ecosport and Maruti XA Alpha. By keeping the start price at Rs 7.19 lakh, Duster has become the entry level fully fledged SUV in India. Though Mahindra Thar starts at Rs 5.14 lakh and there is Maruti Gypsy as well at a start price of Rs 5.30 lakh but these two are not expected to throw any challenge to the Duster. Let’s have a close look at Duster Rivals and see if the other SUVs could do some damage to Duster sales.

Tata Safari

This is the iconic SUV of India and starts at Rs 8.15 lakh which is somewhat similarly priced as the Renault Duster Diesel (Rs 7.99 lakh). At this price the Duster SUV is expected to do some damage to the already damaged sales of Tata Safari in India. Also, since the Safari looks have aged, the new international look of Duster will be appealing to a lot of SUV buyers in the country.

Mahindra Scorpio

It is now a decade long success for this Mahindra SUV and it seems that Duster could give it some rest. The start price of Scorpio is Rs 7.43 lakh for the M2Di BS III diesel model. Here Mahindra Scorpio could continue to have its domination as the price and size does matter in India.

Premier Rio

This is the Chinese SUV sold in India that could not fetch some activity on the sales chart even after the launch in the BSIV petrol version. At a start price of Rs 4.90 lakh this SUV though is priced much less than Duster but it lacks a strong brand and credibility. Thus, Duster is cleanly out of the reach of Premier Rio’s radar. However, the Premier Rio 1.3 L multijet engine powered BS IV model that is slated to be launched soon could dampen Duster sales.

Ford Ecosport

This is the upcoming SUV and is expected to be the closest rival of Duster. Being from Ford that has established itself pretty well with Ford Endeavour and Ford Figo hatch, the Ecosport will have no problem as far as the brand is concerned. Price wise, the Ecosport price is expected to land around Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh and for this SUV that will have awesome looks, paying something extra won’t be a problem for the Indian car buyer.

Maruti XA Alpha

This Maruti SUV is expected to sweep the segment to its side just as Maruti Ertiga did to the MPV segment. This SUV will stun the segment once it is launched this Diwali or early next year. Hoped to be priced around Rs 8 lakh, Maruti XA Alpha will be Maruti’s true foray into the segment and is expected to do wonders.