Renault Kwid-based Triber low cost MPV: What it’ll look like

Renault India has just revealed a couple of teasers and sketches of the Kwid-based Triber low cost compact MPV. While the Triber will be launched in India by the middle of this year, at what one hopes will be a super competitive price tag, rendering artists have already begun putting their imaginations to good use. Here are a couple of speculative renders that indicate what the Renault Triber MPV could look like.

Render courtesy HamiVans

What’s unmistakable in these renders is the influence of the Renault Lodgy – the French automaker’s only MPV on sale in the Indian market. The Renault Triber – going by these renders – comes across as a mini-Lodgy of sorts. It’ll be interesting to see if Renault gives the Triber similar styling as it’s something that will be hard to pull off in effectively, especially with the sub-4 meter length restriction in place. If designers at Renault does manage to get the proportions just right, full power to them though.

The front end of the compact MPV is unmistakably inspired by the Renault Kwid – a car with which it shares with CMF-A platform. The rear shows significant changes though. The tail lamps are horizontal units – much unlike the vertical ones on the Lodgy – and these add an element of width to the MPV’s rear end design. The MPV gets a tall boy form factor, which means that good headroom will be a given. Renault will offer a removable third row of seats on the Triber – a segment first feature that is meant to offer great flexibility between seating additional passengers and stowing extra luggage.

The Renault Triber MPV will be a 7 seater, and is expected to start from around Rs. 5 lakhs considering the sub-4 meter form factor and the excise duty benefits that accrue due to this. As for mechanicals, the low cost MPV will share its engine and transmissions with the Renault Kwid 1.0. The engine will be a 1 liter-3 cylinder unit with aboit 75 Bhp-100 Nm on tap. 5 speed manual and AMT options are expected to drive the front wheels of the Triber. We expect many features of the Triber to be carried over from the Kwid. However, the interiors could feature a fresh design and revised colours.

Renault’s biggest success till date in India has been the Kwid low cost hatchback. With the Triber, the French car maker will be hoping to carve out a similar success story. Pricing will be crucial though. As for positioning, the Renault Triber is likely to sit under the new Maruti Ertiga in terms of pricing. We expect it to rub shoulders with the likes of the Datsun Go+’s top-end trims. Do keep an eye out for new, uncamouflaged spyshots of the Renault’s MPV as the launch nears.