French automaker Renault has launched the Lodgy Stepway in India and it comes at a Rs. 60,000/- premium over the regular RxZ model.
After launching the Lodgy in India a couple of months back, Renault has now launched another variant of the MPV. The Renault Lodgy Stepway has been launched in India and it comes at a premium of Rs. 60,000/- over the top-end RxZ variant of the Lodgy. The Stepway variant comes with some feature add-ons while mechanically there are no changes to the vehicle. The front of the vehicle gets a new grille in the Stepway variant while the front and rear bumpers also carry different styling. Both the bumpers get silver skid plates and the MPV also gets black body cladding. The doors also get a subtle chrome trim now. The MPV also gets ‘Lodgy’ sill plates and Stepway badging at the rear. The alloys come in a new shade of anthracite.
There are no changes to the vehicle when it comes to mechanicals. The Renault Lodgy Stepway is offered in both 7-seater and 8-seater variants. It also carries forward the features of the RxZ variant, such as MediaNAV infotainment system, dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, reverse parking sensors and fog lamps. The Lodgy is powered by a 1.5-litre DCi diesel engine and the Stepway variant will get the higher tune churning out 110 PS of power and 245 Nm of torque. The oil-burner is matched to a 6-speed manual transmission and returns an ARAI-claimed fuel efficiency of 19.98 km/l.
The Renault Lodgy is a great all-rounder when it comes to practicality and space. The vehicle is also priced attractively but sales numbers aren’t turning out to be segment leading. The MPV market is owned by the Toyota Innova and it is indeed difficult to overtake it. To make the Lodgy a successful product, Renault needs to create more brand awareness in the country because long-term ownership costs and reliability factors are still quite unknown. The Duster is the only successful product from the company that also sells the Pulse, Scala, Fluence and Koleos in the sub-continent.
