Renault Kaptur Spotted Testing In India Again

The Renault Kaptur is one of the most anticipated cars that are set to be launched in India this year. Expected to go on sale in the country around the festive season, the Renault Kaptur crossover-SUV was recently spotted testing in India yet again, and this time in Himachal Pradesh. Interestingly, in the latest spy images, you can also see a Hyundai Creta behind the Kaptur. While this could be a pure coincidence, we believe Renault India could be using the Creta for benchmarking, which indicates that the Kaptur could be launched in the same price range as the former.

Incidentally, both Renault Kaptur and the Hyundai Creta are currently on sale in Russia and the Kaptur is roughly just Rs. 50,000 more expensive than the Creta. This means we could expect a similar pricing strategy in India as well considering both the Russian-spec and the Indian-spec models of the cars are pretty much similar to each other. In comparison, the Renault Duster is roughly Rs. 3 lakh cheaper than the Renault Kaptur in Russia, which confirmed our previous speculation that the Kaptur will be positioned well above the Duster in the Indian market.

Renault Kaptur is likely to be priced in the same range as the Hyundai Creta

Now, as we mentioned before this is not the first time that the Kaptur has been spotted testing in the country. Back in April, we spotted the Renault Kaptur undergoing testing in the outskirts of Chennai, near the company's manufacturing facility, and last month images of the car's cabin were surfaced online. So, we already know a fair bit about the upcoming Renault Kaptur. For starters, the Kaptur coming to India is built on the same platform as the Duster and gets a five-seater cabin layout. The Kaptur also comes with an aggressive grille, sweptback headlamps equipped with projector lamps, C-shaped LED daytime running lights and wide bumper. The profile gets black plastic cladding on the lower section, while the 17-inch diamond cut alloy wheels look really sharp on the SUV. The Kaptur comes with a slightly lower ground clearance than the Duster but it is also expected to get the latter's 4x4 system. The Kaptur is also expected to offer better safety features considering the Brazil-made Renault Captur scored 4 Star rating at Latin NCAP.

Renault Kaptur will be positioned above the Duster SUV in India

Powertrain wise, the upcoming Renault Kaptur receive the same engine options as the Duster - a 1.5-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel. The petrol version in the Duster makes about 105 bhp and 142 Nm of peak torque while mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox and an optional CVT unit. On the other hand, the diesel engine comes in two states of tune - 79 bhp and 108 bhp, although we believe the Kaptur will get the latter version only. Transmission duties are handled by a 6-speed manual and Renault's EasyR AMT gearbox.

Images Source: IAB