It has now been confirmed that the French carmaker Renault has withdrawn Pulse, Scala, Fluence and Koleos from the Indian market owing to poor sales. A top Renault India official in a recent interview revealed the new developments stating "the company wants to expand its portfolio by launching one car each year."
The discontinuation of Renault Pulse, Scala, Fluence and Koleos has been in the news before. However, this is the first time that the company has made it official. Earlier, it was said that the models would be made available only on order. With the latest confirmation, from the company CEO and MD, Sumit Sawhney about the withdrawal of the models, Renault's India portfolio now include only three models—Kwid, Duster and Lodgy. The Kwid is Renault's entry-level car in the market while Duster and Lodgy cater to the SUV and MPV segments.
"Renault started operations in India six years back and now has a portfolio of three cars, Kwid, Duster and Lodgy and build it step-by-step," said Sumit Sawhney as quoted by Economic Times.
Renault India is expected to launch its new premium SUV the Captur in October. To be positioned above the Duster, the Captur is expected to be priced in the range of Rs 12 lakh to Rs 16 lakh. Although there were speculations that the launch of new Duster was imminent, the latest reports indicate that it could be delayed due to the launch of the Captur. Renault India wants at least a year of breathing space after the launch of Captur, reported Autocar India.
Under the hood, the Captur will get the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel and 1.5-litre petrol engines of the Duster. While the petrol mill can generate 104bhp at 5,600rpm and 142Nm of peak torque at 4000 rpm, the diesel engine churns out 108bhp at 4000rpm and peak torque of 240Nm at 1750rpm. Both the engines of the Captur will get a six-speed manual gearbox.
