The Captur compact SUV will be positioned below the Duster in India and will compete in the sub 4-metre space against the Ford EcoSport, Fiat Avventura and a host of other crossovers.
A recent report suggests that Renault India is planning to launch the Captur compact crossover in the country as a sub 4-metre offering. Sharing its underpinnings with the company’s bestselling Duster compact SUV, the Renault Captur is positioned above the Duster internationally as an urban and lifestyle product, while the same will see a role reversal in India. Apparently, the company plans to position the Captur below the Duster in terms of pricing to take on the likes of the Ford EcoSport and Fiat Avventura in the sub 4-metre space.
First showcased at the Geneva Motor Show in 2011 as a concept, the Renault Captur has been on sale in France, its home market, since 2013 and has been a successful model for the French automaker. The Renault Captur is a highly stylish and tech laden crossover that comes with most of the bells and whistles needed in a premium offering. In India, the automaker wants to reduce the lead time that goes into developing a new model from scratch and put into production at the earliest. With the same underpinnings as the Duster, Renault will be able to achieve higher economies of scale and the sub 4-metre length will ensure competitive pricing.
Having said that, we do think you should take this news with a pinch of salt much like us. The arrival of the Renault Captur does leave several questions unanswered for the KWID concept that was showcased at the Auto Expo earlier this year. The model is being developed from Renault India’s R&D centre and would have been more India centric competing in the same sub 4-metre space. Nonetheless, it still seems viable for Renault to bring the Captur with heavy localisation to India.
Ensuring economies of scale, a lot of parts sharing is evident on the Captur, but we do expect to see more urban and premium interiors over the utilitarian ones seen on the Duster. The exterior styling is young and agile on the Captur and we expect the model to invoke the right emotions with the younger target audience in the country as well. In terms of powertrain, the 1.2-litre petrol and the 1.5-litre diesel engine are more likely to be offered. With the Terrano being the last of the badge engineered products, a Nissan derivative will not be on the cards in either case. More details are expected to come out in succeeding months with a launch possibility in 2016.
Source – Auto Column
