French automaker Renault seems aggressive with its product and expansion plans for the Indian car market. The company is planning to launch a series of new products including facelifted Duster SUV and Lodgy MPV. Interestingly, Renault is also working on a new small car that will compete against the likes of Maruti Alto 800 and Hyundai Eon. Media reports suggest that the new small car will be based on Renault-Nissan’s new CMF-A Platform, and is being manufactured in India.
According to a report published on ET, the new compact car will be launched in India next year. The vehicle will be manufactured at Renault-Nissan’s manufacturing unit in Oragadam facility near Chennai and in Brazil.
Moreover, a Datsun version of the car will be launched in the market on the same platform. Datsun unveiled the Redi-Go concept at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo. It is expected that both models will share most of the core components.
According to the Jerome Stoll, executive vice-president and sales head of Renault, the new small car will have “attractive” design and “good usability”. The company believes that this small car will be a high volume product and will help the company to improve its market share. The Renault small car is likely to be powered by an 800-900 cc petrol engine which will be mated to a five-speed manual transmission gearbox. It is likely to be priced under Rs. 4 lakh, just like Datsun Go hatchback.
Source: ET
