Renault Arkana has been spied testing in India, giving rise to speculations about its imminent launch in our market
In November last year, Renault India had teased Arkana on its social media handles. There had been no development on the matter since, until recently, when a test model of it was spotted during a road test in India. This leads us to speculate that the French carmaker is planning to launch this coupe-style SUV in our country soon.
Renault has officially ended production of Duster in the Indian market this month, and Captur was discontinued back in 2020. Currently, the brand has only one regular production SUV in its lineup in our market – Kiger. Considering the popularity of SUVs in India, it would be a smart move by the manufacturer to launch more of them in India.
Two separate versions of Renault Arkana exist internationally, one built on the ‘B0’ platform and one on the ‘CMF-B’ platform. The former version (1,545mm length) is sold in the Russian market, while the latter (1,570mm length) is available in Europe and South Korea. We’re not sure which of the two will make its way to the Indian market, if ever.
Due to its dimensions, Renault Arkana will be a close rival to Tata Harrier and MG Hector, although we aren’t sure if its price would be in the same ballpark as them. As for the design, the sloping coupe-style roofline, sharp-looking headlamps, and shapely taillights are extremely attractive. We also expect the SUV to offer a lot of premium features as well.
Internationally, there are two engine options available on Arkana – a 1.3-litre turbo-petrol and a 1.6-litre NA petrol. Mild hybrid and hybrid options are also on offer here. In the Indian market, we already have the 1.3-litre turbo-petrol engine in the now-discontinued Renault Duster and Nissan Kicks, so expect that to power the India-spec version.
If launched, perhaps later this year, Renault Arkana is expected to be priced from Rs. 12 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh (ex-showroom). This would make it the new flagship in the brand’s range upon arrival, positioned above the now-discontinued Duster. However, it’s possible that the manufacturer has brought the Arkana test model in India for component testing for some other model that is being developed for our market.