Renault India CEO: Captur SUV to target Mahindra XUV500

The Captur is Renault’s next big thing for India, and the 5 seat SUV is slated to be launched sometime close to Diwali. Renault India CEO Sumit Sawhney has just indicated where the Captur would be positioned at in the Indian market.

He’s mentioned that the Captur will be much more premium than the Duster, and will sit much above the compact SUV in terms of pricing. This puts the upcoming Renault vehicle bang in Mahindra XUV500 and Jeep Compass territory. Meanwhile, here’s the exact statement of Mr. Sawhney,

The five-seater compact SUV with ‘cross-over DNA’ will be a very premium offering and much higher than the Duster. The new SUV will be rolled out from the company’s Chennai plant. 

Notably, the Captur sold in India will be the Russia-spec version (called the Kaptur there), which is based on the Duster platform. Also, the crossover will be branded as Captur in India, instead of Kaptur (like it’s called in Russia). In Europe, the Captur sold is based on the Clio platform. The India-spec Captur will be much longer than the Euro-spec model.

While engines for the India-spec Captur are yet to be revealed, the grapevine suggests that 1.6 liter petrol and 2.0 diesel units are likely to power this monocoque vehicle. Manual and automatic transmissions are expected to be offered. Front wheel drive will be standard. There’s no word still about an all wheel drive variant.

With the Captur, Renault India is looking at doing an encore of the Duster’s success, which means that competitive pricing will be critical. By pitting the Captur against the Mahindra XUV500 and the Jeep Compass, Renault will hope to lure people who’re upgrading from the Duster, and also those who are looking for a premium yet compact SUV.

Renault has tasted success twice in India, first with the Duster and then with the Kwid. Will the Captur be Renault third major success here? Time will tell. For now, keep watching this space for our driving impressions of the Captur as we drive the crossover at the end of this month.

Via LiveMint