The car will be based on Renault Triber’s platform and will be powered by the same 1.0-litre petrol unit that comes in Renault Triber
The Indian SUV segment has, for long, been the most popular segment in the country. And most of the action in the same has evidently been in the compact segment. The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza recently reclaimed the top position in the segment after Hyundai Venue dethroned it with a staggering response for one month. Nonetheless, in the most recent development, Datsun will also be entering the segment with its own offering this year.
Datsun has recently filed the trademark request for Magnite and it likely to be the badge of brand’s upcoming Sub-4M SUV. It will be primarily based on the Triber’s platform just like the Renault sub-4m SUV (codenamed HBC). Also, powering the car would be Triber’s 1.0-litre petrol unit that produces 72PS of power and 96Nm of torque.
At present, this unit comes coupled with a 5-speed manual transmission option. The company’s upcoming SUV could also be offered with a turbocharged version of the said engine like HBC. Following Renault India’s decision to stop selling diesel vehicles in the BS6 era, Datsun’s sub-4m SUV will not come with a diesel unit. The car will reportedly be introduced in India later this year.
After the massive response received by Hyundai Venue, manufacturers seem to be interested in the same segment. Datsun’s alliance Renault will also be introducing its offering in the compact SUV segment at the 2020 Auto Expo.
The ‘Kiger’, as leaked documents suggest, will be based on the Kwid’s CMF-A platform, which is a low-cost derivative of the Common Module Family that Renault and Nissan use globally. While we are dark on details about the Kiger, the car can be expected exclusively with a petrol powertrain since the company plans to axe its diesel line-up ahead of the BS-VI emission norms in April.
In addition to this, the company is also working on a turbo-petrol variant of the Triber that is set to be launched in the first quarter of this year. Reports suggest that the new iteration will be a turbocharged version of the 1.0-litre three-cylinder offering that is available in the standard version.
While there has been no word regarding the same, speculations rate the TCe turbocharged petrol unit at 99bhp and 160Nm of torque, which currently powers the UK-spec Renault Clio and Captur.