Renault has confirmed that the Kiger sub-compact SUV will see its market launch in October this year. It was originally supposed to follow the launch of the Nissan Magnite but now it will come before the latter.
Renault has confirmed that the Kiger sub-compact SUV will see its launch in India in October 2020. It is a very important model for Renault in India following the Triber and the company is banking hard on its success. Initially, the launch of the Renault Kiger was set to follow the Nissan Magnite, literally its sister car. However, due to unavoidable circumstances because of the lockdown, the launch of the Nissan Magnite has been pushed to 2021 and it is the Renault sub-compact SUV that we will see first from the alliance. Being launched in October, Renault will enjoy all the festive season benefits.
From spy shots seen of the sub-compact SUV earlier, the Renault Kiger looks like a larger cousin of the Kwid. The Kwid already has a crossover-ish stance and with relatively the same design elements on a much larger car, the Kiger truly looks like the SUV derivative of the Kwid. There’s a familiar large Renault grille on the face flanked by split LED headlamps on either side just like the Kwid. The SUV will also come with body cladding all around and stylish looking 16-inch wheels. From under the wraps, it looks like the HBC will be a pretty stylish and distinct looking SUV.
This Kiger will slot under the Duster in the French carmaker’s lineup in India. It will be underpinned by the Compact Modular Family (CMF-A) platform. It is the same platform on which the Triber is based and like we have seen with the Triber, Renault has given utmost priority to cabin space with this sub-compact SUV. Although we have not seen interior images of the Kiger yet, we expect it to borrow a lot of design elements from the Triber. You can expect features like a touchscreen infotainment systwm with Andriod Auto and Apple CarPlay, cruise control, automatic climate control, digital instrument cluster, keyless entry with push-button start, and steering-mounted audio controls.
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The Kiger will be powered by petrol engines only in India. We will see Renault’s 1.0 liter, three cylinder petrol engine making its way into the sub-compact SUV. This engine produces 72 bhp and 96 Nm of torque. A 5-speed manual and a 5-speed AMT are expected to be on offer with this engine. There are also talks of Renault introducing a turbocharged petrol engine in India. That could very well be Nissan’s ‘HR10’ three-cylinder turbocharged motor, that makes around 100bhp of power. This engine is likely to be reserved for higher variants of the small SUV.
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We expect Renault to price the Kiger sub-compact SUV quite aggressively as the the platform it is based on is pretty cost-effective. Prices are likely to be in the Rs 6 lakh to Rs 9 lakh range. The festive time will also see the launch of the upcoming Kia Sonet sub-compact SUV. This segment is growing ever more crowded with more and more manufacturers stepping in. We already have the Tata Nexon, the Hyundai Venue, the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, the Ford Ecosport and the the Mahindra XUV300. There are three more yet to come.
