[GTO]

Originally Posted by CarBot

Actually a brilliant vehicle, should have been the replacement of duster.

Well said . This should have been badged as the "New Duster" for India, and the old Duster should have been buried. The price points should also have been the same.

Renault foolishly:

- Thought they will sell both cars side by side. Big fail!

- Got the Captur at a higher price than the Duster

- The interiors were no match for the Creta

- Didn't give it an Automatic (in a market that loves its ATs)

- Plonked what is a rather ordinary petrol engine under the hood

- Shamelessly bragged about the awards of the European Captur, as if it applied to the Indian car which is completely different

[charanreddy]

good riddance ! I saw very few examples on the road over a span of 2 years and always felt for the owners.. Its one thing to buy a meager seller but entirely other to buy a car in the "Creta" segment that sells less than some premium barges out there !

Was never a fan of the design and believed Renault lost a trick not bringing the latest duster to India in time.

[Artyom]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Catastrophic for existing owners. A low production + India only model inevitably means accelerated shortages of unique components, glass items & body panels. Luckily, the engine & transmission is common across other models so no fear there.

Resale will tank like a brick and it's best to keep it for a longer period now.

My colleague bought it as soon as it launched and he bought the Top Model Diesal for like 16-17 lakhs (OTR Bangalore) and I was like Wow you could have bought something better at that price .

I really feel bad for him specially when its just been 2 years now approx.

[sameer sultan]

As an owner of Captur Petrol RXE I can say I made a bad decision. It was an impulsive purchase. I was desperate to buy a SUV within a budget of 12L and this model had just launched around December 2017 I had a test drive and booked it.The base variant had quiet a few features which the rivals at this price point lacked.My Brother owns a Duster 110 since 2012. I have driven it and like the ride a lot. Hence when I saw the Captur I liked the styling. I know not many would like it but I like unconventional designs. (Current Creta I like!!). The ride was as good as Duster though after 2 years of ownership I feel Duster is a superior product than Captur from Renault.No wonder it flopped. Duster is from the Dacia stable a very rugged long lasting and still popular model in Europe. Its like the Corolla of Toyota. The bread and butter type model. The Captur especially the model developed for Brazil India and Russia derived it looks from the Captur sold in Europe and mechanicals of the Duster.The marriage did not come out very good! I feel that is the reason Renault did not replace the Captur with the Duster as they knew the latter is a superior product.

I have not faced any issues in my run of 20K I still like the looks and it is a comfortable ride with spacious interiors.I don't think I will sell it in the near future and If I decide to buy a new car I will just keep this as a second car in the household replacing the 2015 Ford Aspire. Since the mechanicals are similar to Duster spare parts won't be an issue.

BTW the last 3 cars I owned have all been discontinued while i still had them!!(The 1st Gen Skoda Octavia,Chevrolet Cruze and now the Renault Captur).

[hydraulicsteer]

Originally Posted by sameer sultan

Since the mechanicals are similar to Duster spare parts won't be an issue.

Yes regular service spares will not be a problem with Captur. But be ready,sourcing trims both external and internal will be a major pain. This is coming from my decade old ownership experience of the Palio stile (now sold) which was discontinued soon after I bought it. Leave apart ASC, the huge Spare part ecosystem of Delhi was unable to source even a ORVM for Palio Stile.

PS: I like the design of both Captur and Kicks but then finally the mind took over the heart and i came home with a Creta ‘19.

[pms]

Sometimes I wonder what kind of market research & analysis these guys do before launching a product. Renault is a global company and its sad to see products like these launched especially when they don't have good hold in Indian market. Rather they should be launching vehicles that connect with Indian consumers and a step ahead of the top sellers here. Duster was a game changer in the SUV segment when launched but failed to take the lead or sustain the momentum by holding on to spartan interiors and features.

[xjosephjacob]

I don't think those deceiving ads killed it- just that it there was nothing in it that was enticing for the regular buyer. To sell in India you got to Indianize the product, the way market wants it- especially when car's purchases in India are akin to enterprise software sales; there are a lot of stakeholders involved.

I completely agree with the sentiment that Renault India doesn't offer a well rounded product or experience; they goof up on one or the other things including:

• Lack of features (Duster)
• Poor real-estate packaging (Duster and Captur)
• Mediocre Interiors (Duster and Captur)
• Uninspiring petrol engines (Kwid, Triber, Duster and Captur)
• High cost of spares (Duster and Captur

That said, it's hard not to fall in love with the Captur once you take in on the road. RIP.

[McLaren Roxx]

Of all the things The Captur wasn't, i think it had one thing going for it - Looks. IMO, it was well-proportioned and looked dapper in that burnt orange w. blacked roof avatar, with those sweet looking alloys.

Too bad it belonged to the wrong stable. If it were to have a Maruti or a Hyundai badge, majority of the aam junta would have lapped it up eyes closed - or should I say eyes open, no questions asked. No one would've bothered about any of its shortcomings.

I'd say, good try Renault. Hope they don't lose interest in the Indian market like Chevrolet, Ford, VW and Fiat.

[TheVegabond]

Sooner the better. Overpriced and underperformer. It never clicked, even the kwid looks better. It was like a makeshift last minute arrangement of an SUV.

[immortalmechano]

This is honestly sad. As a Duster 85ps owner, I know how good a car it could have been. It is a really beautiful looking car and I think Renault should have re-launched the Captur with updated interiors like what we get on the Kicks with the 1.3L turbo, autobox options and a proper marketing campaign in accompaniment. The kicks should have been the one that was killed. What is Nissan still doing here anyway?

[Samba]

This is a good decision by Renault. On a serious note the Duster which is on sale in India, should also be replaced by the current gen Duster which is available in the international market.

Originally Posted by sameer sultan

I was desperate to buy a SUV within a budget of 12L and this model had just launched around December 2017 I had a test drive and booked it.The base variant had quiet a few features which the rivals at this price point lacked.

I was on the same boat in 2018. With a budget of 10-12 L, I almost zeroed on the Ecosport. Then saw an ad in the newspaper about Renault offering an discount of Rs 2L on Captur. That took me to the Renault showroom and I took a test drive of the 110 diesel. I quite liked the car. Infact I liked it more than all the cars I test-drove during that time.

The low sales figure was the only deterrent which held me back from booking this car and I ended up buying the Duster AWD. But any-day the Captur feels more plush than the age old Duster.

This 2017 manufactured Capture XT, diesel was offered to me for Rs 12L on road in July 2018.

[DLC5005]

Me and my friend had test driven the Captur, when it was launched.
We liked the built quality, driveability and looks.
The interiors were decent enough, but not in the league of Creta though.
Also it didn't feel worth for money, given its high pricing.

In my opinion,
With changing times and interest of buyers, Renault should have upgraded their vehicles with good facelifts, interiors, features etc. Which they didn't.

For example,
The Creta with each facelift gained better looks and features.
But for Duster, right from its launch, the looks and features have remained almost the same/minimal.

So, ideally the Captur should have replaced the Duster, with nominal price hike to that of duster.
Then surely it would have not flopped.
In my opinion the high pricing and lack of automatic version were the main culprits for its downfall.

Captur already had good built, wonderful suspension setup and a reliable diesel engine to its credit.
Now imagine, if Renault had provided us a full spec Captur, with AWD, better interiors and an automatic with a good pricing.
It surely would have given a tough fight to Creta and other sub 20L vehicles.
But may be it's too much to expect all these, as a buyer.


How good the Renault portfolio would have been? Had they kept up with changing times and kept reviving and improvising it's cars?

May be it would have looked like below :

• Kwid
• Pulse
• Scala
• Triber
• Lodgy
• Duster
• Fluence
• Captur
• Koleos

Sadly, now Captur too moves out, like its other seniors.

With Captur being removed completely and with no diesel engines in the scene for Renault, it will be a difficult task to sustain for too long, with just the sales of Kwid, Triber and Duster petrol(Is it really selling?)

I hope Renault doesn't pack up completely like Chevrolet, leaving the customers stranded.
(I myself have bought a Duster few months back, just seeing its positives aspects alone)


Hope the Renault think-tanks comes up with some good strategy and innovation to revive the brand and its sales.
Wishing good look to Renault's future.

[manjunathkl]

Sad to see a product fail. This is a huge failure of Renault India (especially Marketing dept)

So what (all) went wrong?

1. Duster Platform Captur being passed-off as the more modern Clio based Kaptur.

Now, don't get me wrong - Companies go to great lengths to reduce the production cost. Perhaps, Duster based Captur was more suited to India, but there shouldn't have been any resemblances in their names. Plus the prices must have been more justified. This clearly gives an impression of deception.

But it is not as deceptive as MG posing its Hector as a Britain's car, when it is actually Chinese. Here entire badge is deceptive. I'm very sure, big chunk of Hector buyers had no clue that they are buying a Chinese car.



2. Didn't capitalize the brand Duster to its advantage.

Duster had a very successful run in India upon its introduction. When time came to refresh Duster, they brought in Captur instead of replacing old Duster with the current gen. BIG BIG MISTAKE. You had the cake and you threw it away. Irrespective of bringing Captur or not, Duster deserved a upgrade to next gen. I think Renault management thought new Duster would cannibalize the Captur customers. In reality, Duster and Captur would appeal to different set of customers.

It shows, even though Duster was a big hit, Renault didn't really figure out why it was a big hit. Success is good when you understand how you got it. Even if you get a lucky break, dive deep and understand "why".



3. Not Listening to Customers

When Captur sales didn't take off, Renault did nothing to the product other than adding new endorsements, Ads etc. Market gave you a feedback - "At this price we expect lot more premiumness and features like AT". Renault decided not to act on it.



4. Design

SUV buyers in 2010s, 20s are looking at muscular aggressive looks. Renault's designers copied global Kaptur's looks and pasted it on Indian Captur - without any regard of Indian's preferences of looks. Captur looks more urban, refined, and sophisticated with its curves and bulges. People buying SUV like menacing, aggressive looks. People were looking for Sunny Deol, they got Parineeti Chopra. It is not a bad design, but it is not to people's preference. Kicks scores better in this department.



It makes me wonder how huge MNC carmakers can hire management staff with absolutely no understanding of the market? And fail for 3 long years without any checks or balances.

What should Renault have done?

1. Launch Duster - latest version with all the bells and whistles. (Reward the product that has given success to the brand)
2. Launch Captur with a different name - and target it to a different set of customers altogether
3. Price the Captur (with a different name) more justifiably - not as per its global namesake
4. Listen to customers and improve the car to suit customer preferences - it is a new product - dump your arrogance and work on customer feedback.

Nissan has launched its Kicks which is again different from global Kicks. I can understand platform sharing, but here they copied strategy as well. Blind cut and paste. Nissan has terrible brand reputation compared to Renault. So, all the best to Kicks.

Disclaimer: Both Captur and Kicks are very capable and well made vehicles in their own right. It is just that they are branded, positioned and priced in a very wrong way. In the mix of Product-Positioning-Price-Promotion they have got only Product right.