Renault Captur Discontinued In Our Market

Renault India has silently pulled the Captur off its shelves. The small SUV has been discontinued in our market in a short span of two years. It was first launched back in September 2017. The car never really got a foothold in the Indian market. Till March 2020, the automaker was only able retail 6,618 units of the car. The design of the Renault Captur is inspired by its European sibling, and the India-spec small SUV was based on the company’s MO platform. The Renault Captur offered a great ride and was propelled by a capable diesel motor, but the SUV was not able to grab a good market share because of its high retail price, lack of premium cabin and capable competition.

The India-spec India Renault Captur is based company's MO platform

Moreover, the final pin in the coffin was the implementation of the new BS6 emission norms. Due to the new emission norms, Renault discontinued all the diesel powertrain options. Recently, in the Russian market, the MO based Captur has been updated using the MO+ platform, but updating the SUV for India would involve added cost. And that’s not something Renault can afford to do for its flagship model that will have to face competition from some well-established rivals Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. Nissan Kicks is also based on the MO platform, but the automaker manages to keep it on sale and is only offering the car with a petrol powertrain.

Till March 2020, Renault India was only able retail 6,618 units of the car

Nevertheless, we think that discontinuing the Captur was a good decision and it’ll allow the carmaker to focus more on its upcoming cars. Renault Kwid and Triber are performing quite well in our market, and the automaker has also planned to launch a compact SUV named as Kiger. The all-new SUV will hit the Indian shores in the near future. The car will be based on the company’s CMF-A+ platform and will be priced between Rs 5 to Rs 9 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Once launched, it’ll compete with the likes of Hyundai Venue, Maruti Brezza, Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV300 and Ford EcoSport.