Report - Renault's Maruti Alto 800 rival to launch next year, will also be made in Brazil

Renault is working on a new small car that will rival the Maruti Alto 800 and Hyundai Eon. Based on Renault-Nissan's new CMF-A platform, the small car is being developed in India.

Speaking to the Economic Times newspaper, Jerome Stoll, executive vice-president and sales head of Renault, confirmed that the small car has been designed in India and will be launched here next year. Stoll said that manufacturing of the car will take place in India (at Renault-Nissan's Oragadam facility) and Brazil (where vehicles have flex-fuel compatibility).

Using the same underpinnings, a Datsun version of the car will be launched as well. The Datsun Redi-Go, a concept previewing the baby Datsun, was showcased at the Auto Expo last month. The twins are said to be different top hats sharing the core components.

The new Renault small car is described as having "attractive" design and "good usability" by Stoll. Catering to the lower end of the segment, Renault expects it to be a high volume product.

The small car will likely be powered by an 800 - 900 cc petrol engine matched to a five-speed manual transmission. Given the sudden emergence of automated manual transmission (AMT), Renault would want to use this feature to appeal to the new car buyer.

[Source - Economic Times]