Renault to bring facelifts of Duster, Koleos and Fluence

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Manufacturers all over the globe have been planning to bring new cars in the Indian car market next year. However, Renault is expected to only introduce new variants of their existing cars in the country. These will be new variants of the Duster, Koleos and Fluence sedan all of which will be unveiled at the 2014 Auto Expo. 

Marc Nassif, Managing Director, Renault India in an interview with TOI affirmed that the company has not lined up any big launches for India. However, the automaker will bring some changes to the products in their portfolio in terms of facelifts.  

The Renault Duster has been enjoying a good demand in the Indian automobile market and in fact, it is the only car which changed the game for the carmaker. The company has increased their share in the Indian car market due to the sales of the SUV. The facelifted Duster was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show first in the Dacia guise and a few months later with the Renault badging. The car has undergone major cosmetic changes both inside and outside. It also gets a new 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine to rival Ford’s 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine but this is unlikely to make its way to India.     

A facelifted version of the Fluence sedan is already on sale in the European market. The car was unveiled at the Istanbul Auto Show 2012 and later sighted in South India in mid-2013.

The next contender is the refreshed SUV, Koleos, which was unveiled at the Buenos Aires Motor Show in 2013. The Koleos is sold in one variant and comes with a 1995cc turbo diesel motor producing 148bhp and 320Nm mated to a six-speed automatic transmission which sends power to all wheels.  The refreshed version get a new grille, new front bumper, all-new alloy wheels, a seven-inch touch screen infotainment system, new trim colours, rear parking camera and new leather upholstery. 

 Apart from these three facelifted cars we also predict that Renault would enter the MPV segment in India with the Lodgy MPV. It is 4.5 meters long and 1.7 meters wide, this means that it is bigger than the Ertiga and its cousin the Evalia but only a little smaller than the Toyota Innova which is currently the segment leader. Predictably, under the hood, the Lodgy will be powered by the 1.5-litre K9K diesel engine which produces 85bhp and 200Nm of torque. This is the same mill that does duty in the Duster and the Evalia among other Renault-Nissan models.

The French automaker is also expected to showcase some of its international models like the Megane, Clio and Captur compact crossover which are not sold in the Indian market.