Renault Australia is confident the arrival of fresh, in-demand stock of its rugged Duster small SUV will boost sales, even as a key rival – the ever-popular three-door Suzuki Jimny – has returned with a raft of upgrades.
The Duster has struggled to sell in significant numbers since its local launch in mid-2025, posting just 302 deliveries over the past eight months. Though Renault only recorded 4569 sales last year, the Duster is still well down on the brand’s best-selling Master and Trafic vans, and the Koleos SUV.
Meanwhile, the Jimny – one of the Duster’s most direct rivals – has posted 1207 sales so far in 2026 alone, despite the popular three-door variant only returning from a nearly year-long hiatus this month. Suzuki Australia even reported about 600 back-orders for the three-door model.
Renault Australia general manager Glen Sealey says the arrival of additional Duster stock, including variants not available at launch, should result in a healthy increase in sales.
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“When we launched Duster, we were short on stock, and we said that; we didn’t think we’d get stock until this year,” he told media at the local launch of the Renault Scenic E-Tech.
“What we’ve seen for Duster is the Techno 4×4 is only just hitting the market now, and we’re seeing pretty good demand for that, actually. But we’ve also seen the 4×2 really start to pick up as stocks come through.
“You’re always concerned about your competition, but no, we haven’t seen the [Jimny’s] impact on that yet.”
While it was available to order at launch, Renault Australia had outlined that the flagship Duster Techno 4×4 manual would not start deliveries until December 2025 at the earliest. The brand anticipates that, despite its top-spec status, that variant will be popular given its level of specification and off-road-ready drivetrain.
Additionally, the French brand confirmed that it has secured additional stock of the 4×2 Evolution and Techno variants, which are front-wheel drive and automatic-only.
Mr Sealey also added that the Australian Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Scheme is a concern, potentially limiting the Duster’s volume as the brand works to introduce new electric vehicles (EVs) like the Scenic E-Tech.
“Of course, with the regulatory mix that we have, you can only sell so many cars with a CO2 above the mandated level to make it work,” he said. “We’ve seen it bounce up, but it’s about at the level we can sell to.”
Put simply, NVES will require brands to meet increasingly strict average CO2 emissions in the coming years or face penalties.
Though Renault was one of several brands to meet the first fleet-wide CO2 target, thereby avoiding penalties for the time being, the Duster emits more CO2 (albeit as little as 129g/km) than the 2026 NVES target of 117g/km for passenger vehicles.
NVES pressure was also acknowledged by Suzuki Australia general manager Michael Pachota, who pledged to “ensure fun stays forever affordable for Suzuki customers” as his brand introduces new hybrids and EVs, such as the Vitara Hybrid and e-Vitara.
For context, the Jimny also emits more CO2 than the current NVES limit and more than the Duster at 146g/km.
While Renault has previously said it expects the Duster to appeal to Jimny buyers, the two SUVs are conceptually quite different – the former features unibody construction, while the latter is a more rugged body-on-frame off-roader.
They’re priced similarly, however. The entire Duster range is still priced between $31,990 and $37,990 before on-road costs, while the three-door Jimny is priced between $31,990 and $36,490 before on-roads, and the five-door XL is either $34,990 or $37,490 before on-roads for the manual and auto respectively.
The base price of the Jimny has climbed $1500 with its 2026 update, and is now $8000 more expensive than it was at its introduction in 2019.
Mr Pachota previously confirmed that the Jimny’s latest price increase is “driven purely by specification updates”, and maintained the small off-roader “is here to stay” despite NVES pressures.
Whether the Duster can usurp the increasingly expensive Jimny on the sales charts, however, remains to be seen.
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