While Renault Captur has been the flagship model in its company’s model range, its sales have been pretty disappointing so far
Launched in 2017, Renault Captur has been the flagship product in the model range of the local subsidiary of the French carmaker. However, the crossover has so far achieved little success in the market. Moreover, it looks like the days of poor sales performance are far from over as the company seems to have discontinued the diesel variant of its most premium offering.
Sales data for December 2019 shows that the company dispatched just 1 unit of its crossover, which clearly hints that the company might have pulled the plug on the production of the diesel variant of the Captur. It may be noted here that Renault India has decided to take the petrol-only route and will soon stop the sales of all its diesel-powered vehicles.
In fact, last month, the company finally shelved the production of the Renault Lodgy, its slow-selling MPV that was available only with a diesel engine. With even the Captur losing its oil-burner option, it doesn’t look like the diesel variant of the Duster would remain on sale for long. Currently, the company has four models in its product range: the Duster, Captur, Triber and Kwid.
So far, Renault Captur was on sale with two engine options to choose from – a
1.5-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel. The petrol motor offers a maximum power of
106 PS and a peak torque of 142 Nm. It comes mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. On the other hand, the diesel engine option produces 110 PS and 240 Nm and comes mated to a 6-speed manual transmission.
Now, however, Renault Captur will be sold only with the petrol engine option. The decision to axe the 1.5-litre K9K diesel motor of the Captur comes ahead of the advent of the BSVI emission norms. It may be noted here that several carmakers have decided to discontinue the diesel variants of their models due to the high costs involved in the modification of the oil-burners to attain compliance with the stricter norms.
Renault India is likely to soon expand its lineup with the launch of the Kwid-based budget-end compact SUV. The new model will share its platform with the Triber and is expected to go on sale with a similarly competitive price tag. The company could even introduce an all-electric version of the Kwid in the coming future.