After the massive success of the Renault Duster in the SUV class, the confidence of Renault has rose to a level encouraging enough to bring more new models to the Indian automobile market. Also the company has realized that as far as the Indian market is concerned, new products perform way better than rebadged cars such as the Pulse and Scala.
Now what we have come to hear is that the French major is interested in launching its Renault Lodgy MPV in India somewhere in 2014. Earlier it was expected that Lodgy will come to India in 2015, but with the MPV space getting hot in India, Renault plans to bring it to India at the Auto Expo of 2014. This MPV is based on the modified Duster platform and recently, at the 2012 Auto Expo held in New Delhi, the car maker had showcased the same. Lodgy from Renault can be a good competition for popular MPV Maruti Ertiga which is clocking high sales since its launch.
Renault doesn’t sell the Lodgy under its own brand name, but sells it as Dacia Lodgy in the European markets. Presently the car is under sales in most of the European region and since it belongs to the Dacia sub-brand, expect a really competitive price when it is launched in India. Our expectation is that it will be priced cheaper than the segment leader Toyota Innova.
Besides Innova, the only tough competition left in the MPV class is the newly introduced Ertiga. Comparing the same with the Lodgy, we understand that the latter is longer and wider than the Ertiga. On the inside it seems very spacious and offers a flexible 7 seat configuration. Despite accommodating full 7 adults at once, the car offers decent amount of boot space. The interior styling is attractive and the quality of plastic used is also decent. There are plenty of cubby holes and storage spaces which one will definitely consider while buying.
Under the hood the car is powered by the highly proven K9K 1.5 litre turbocharged diesel engine that puts out 110 BHP at max. The same is coupled to a 6 speed manual transmission. As for the Indian market, we can surely expect Renault to offer the same with the 85 BHP 200 Nm diesel engine which is available on the Duster.
Nissan had launched the Evalia which failed to attract Indian buyers. Now it would be interesting to see whether Renault becomes successful with the Lodgy or not.
