After losing battle in the hatchbacks, and gaining an upper hand in the compact SUVs with the Duster, there seems the Renault wants to exercise its expertise once again in the segment. This time, it isn’t bound to get a new Duster for India; instead the compact SUV Captur, which it sells in other international markets, will be launched here against the Ford EcoSport. Yes, that’s right; the French carmaker will chop it to claim the length of under 4-metres and shall price it competitively against the likes of Ford’s compact SUV.
Well, there doesn’t seem any better option for Renault to opt other than this. The Captur was launched in Europe during 2013, and there it measures 4.1-metres, so bringing it down the prescribed length won’t be hassle for the engineers in India. Even there, the car got its own set of competitors named as Nissan Juke and Opel Mokka. Coming to the India, a lot of excitement awaits for the Captur, as Mahindra too is readying a similar rival for a launch in the coming year, Maruti’s YBA (Alpha), and Hyundai Cross i20 or ix25.
They say, the engine specifications for Indian market will be given to choose from the 1.5-litre K9k diesel (of Duster), and the petrol motor could be of a 1.2-litre (of Pulse), which even the other products of Renault uses.
Currently, the company owns a manufacturing bay in Chennai which is capable of churning out 4,80,000 units a year in sharing with Nissan, where the Captur at this facility is bound to cover a local sales of approximately 60,000 units a year. Roughly, on an approximate basis, the company is aiming to sell 4500-5000 units a month, where the Ford EcoSport is currently selling 4,400 units a month.
Though, the launch could be still faraway, and there is needed an immense market research as well as R&D prior to the launch.
Currently, the automaker sells Pulse (hatchback), Scala and Fluence (sedans) and Duster and Koleos (SUV), where a MPV called Lodgy will be launched soon in the coming months/days.
Source: Business Standard
