Renault, the French automaker is planning to set various car models in India in near future. Renault and Japanese automaker Nissan made tie-up for setting a production plant in Chennai, whose first model will be Renault Fluence, which is likely to be released in the year 2011. This car is the C-segment compact sedan that has the Nissan/Renault C platform which made its debut in 2009 globally. The company is confident of taking on the competitors as it has intentions of pricing the sedan by one or two lacs lesser than the cost of the cars in its segment. It will be the CKD UNIT but the company is keen to make sure that Renault Fluence is launched at an affordable price tag. The company is planning to roll-out both petrol and diesel versions, which will be fuel-efficient, eco-friendly and compatible for driving on Indian roads. In India, Fluence was first displayed at the 2010 Delhi Auto Expo and it will compete with successful cars like Honda Civic, Volkswagen Jetta, Toyota Corolla and Skoda Laura.
The petrol version of Renault Fluence will have two types of engine 2.0L, 140 hp 16-valve engine and 1.6L 110 hp with 16-valve engine. The diesel version will come with five types of engines - 1.5 DCi 90 DPF, 1.5 DCi 85 DPF, 1.5 DCi 110 DPF, 1.5 DCi 105 DPF and 1.5 DCi 115 DPF. The sedan will provide an option of automatic and manual transmission gearbox with innovative twin clutch transmission. Since the car is yet to launch in India the accurate mileage of Renault Fluence is not known but it is believed that it will be one of the best fuel efficient cars of its segment with decent output.
Renault Fluence exterior dimensions measure 4.6 m length, 1.81m width and 1.48m height and rest of the measurement is yet to be announced. However, look wise the car appears to be attractive and compact, with pleasant front and an impressive rear. It has the arch shaped roof, which is one of the additional attractions to it exterior. The interior is well-designed and perfect, with most of the features are easy to reach. It has four spoke steering wheel, which is mounted with controls that is not only user friendly but also one of the distinctive feature of its interior. The sedan has ample of space in the legroom, headroom and for luggage. The instrumental cluster is pretty funky but effectively structured. As far as Renault Fluence safety is concerned, the car is equipped with lots of active and passive safety features like ample of airbags both in front and rear, fog lamps, anti-braking system with EBD, three-point pre-tensioned seat belts, ESP and many more.
It would be really interesting to watch out how Renault after snapping its tie-up with Mahindra & Mahindra makes it moves in the dynamic Indian automobile market. Also is to be seen how well the launch of Renault Fluence augurs for the company, which plans to launch more new cars in India.
Renault Fluence Overview