We reported earlier that Renault will launch a series of new cars in a couple of next year. The company is aiming to increase its market share to 5 per cent in the country within 2-3 years. Renault is planning to enter into the mass market segments by launching a multi-purpose vehicle and a sub-4 lakh car next year.
Renault India has already started testing the Lodgy MPV and the small car- codenamed XBA on Indian roads. The Lodgy MPV is expected to go on sale in the first quarter of 2015, while the sub-4 lakh car is likely to be launched by mid-2015.
At the launch of Renault Duster AWD, Sumit Sawhney Renault India Country CEO and Managing Director said, “We plan to launch two new models in the volume segment next year — an MPV and a sub 4 lakh car. With these new products and the existing portfolio we are confident of crossing 5 per cent market share”.
The XBA small car will be Renault’s first car based on the Common Module Family (CMF) architecture will be manufactured at the Renault-Nissan technical centre at Chennai. It will be powered by a 800cc, 3-cylinder petrol engine, which is developed in-house by Renault-Nissan unit in Chennai. This is the same engine that also underpins the Datsun RediGo hatchback.
The Renault Lodgy MPV will share the platform and component levels with Duster SUV. It would get the same 1.5-litre dCi diesel motor producing two states of tune- 85PS and 110PS. The 85PS engine will be paired to a five-speed manual gearbox, while the 110PS model will be mated to a six-speed manual transmission.
