Renault has confirmed that it will stop the production of all diesel variants of its car once the BS6 emission norms come into action from April 1, 2020
Renault confirmed that it has stopped the production of the Lodgy MPV in India since the car came with only a diesel powertrain and the French carmaker plans to discontinue all its diesel powertrains in the country early next year.
The Lodgy’s sales were hampered due to increasing MPVs in the industry. On top of that, the car was only offered with a 1.5-litre diesel engine that produced 108.5 hp of max power and 245 Nm of peak torque. The declining sales numbers do not make it a viable option to invest a hefty amount for BS6 upgradation. Hence, the MPV will be discontinued in March 2020.
“It is not the question that we want to end it. We don’t want to get into diesel, so Lodgy ends there. We are not going to renovate. All (future launches) will be gasoline, including the Captur,” said Mr Venkatram Mamillapalle, Renault India’s Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director.
Apart from the Lodgy, Renault has another MPV in its Indian line-up in the form of the Triber; which gets a BS4-compliant 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine that generates 71 hp power and 96 Nm torque, and comes with a 5-speed manual transmission as standard for now. The French carmaker plans to upgrade the engine to comply with BS6 emission norms before the April 1 deadline, and also introduce an auto transmission for the Triber soon.
In terms of features, the Triber gets an 8-inch MediaNav touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, modular seating layout with a removable third row of seats, AC vents for second and third rows. On the safety front, the car packs dual frontal airbags, ABS with EBD and rear parking sensors as standard across all trims.
Renault has priced the Triber between Rs 4.95 lakh and Rs 6.63 lakh (ex-showroom), and it rivals the Datsun GO + and several other budget-based hatchbacks.