‘Badi Gaadi’ is the current car-buying trend in India and hence the explosive growth of SUVs in India. Some 10-15 years ago and all the years before that, this wasn’t the case. Then, in the 2000s and before that, ‘Lambi Gaadi’ defined your stature and status symbol in the society. And quite naturally, the recent boom in the popularity of the SUVs has resulted in a direct decrease in the popularity and sales of the Sedans.
More details
Hence, French carmaker Renault has also decided to not go with the downtrend and has possibly scrapped any plans they had of producing a sub-4-m Sedan based on the Kwid.
Now, don’t get us wrong. Sedans are one of the best vehicles in their own space. There is no other thing quite like a Sports Sedan, especially if it is a BMW with an M badge. But, the appeal of the Sedans overall has been affected due to more space, more comfort in some cases and most importantly, almost similar prices of the SUVs. Renault earlier had plans of producing a sub-4-m Sedan based on CMF-A+ platform that also underpins the Kiger and the Triber. Essentially, it would have been a Kwid with a boot similar to other Sedans in the segment – Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire, Honda Amaze and Hyundai Aura.
Mr Venkataram Mamillapalle, MD & CEO, Renault India, said “Fresh investments in a new Sedan would be unwarranted right now and that their focus now is in producing sub-10 lakhs cars for India. That seemingly rules out the possibility of a new Sedan being in works currently.”
However, in distant future, if it indeed takes shape of reality, it will be powered by the same set of engines as the Kiger and the Triber – a 1.0L, naturally aspirated petrol engine which puts out 76PS of peak power and 96Nm of peak torque, mated to a 5-speed manual or an AMT transmission. A 1.0L turbo petrol engine would also have been offered which produces 100PS and 160Nm of peak outputs on the Triber and comes mated to a 5-speed MT or a CVT unit.
It would be interesting to see how Renault plans the roadmap for its future in India.