Renault's hatchback, Pulse unveiled

[RavenAvi]

Ladies and gentlemen, the Renault Pulse.










Pics courtesy and credit - sb_alto @ Autocar (Autocar India Forum: Renault Pulse: now Launched)

[ravi_23]

French carmaker's top-down strategy takes shape as Micra-based premium hatchback Pulse make an appearance.

French carmaker Renault is showing great resolve in sticking to its strategy for India. After the recent launches in the form of the D-seg Fluence and the Koleos SUV, Renault has unveiled its small car for the Indian market, the Pulse. The car was revealed today evening in Delhi at the hands of Formula 1 drivers Mark Webber and Karun Chandhok, on the eve of the inaugural Indian F1 GP. Both drive F1 cars powered by Renault engines.

While news of a small car from Renault had been doing rounds, and had even been confirmed by the manufacturer itself, many had expected this car to be on the lines of the Modus or the Clio - both established brands in the European city-hatch space. The car for India however will be neither of the two, but will be called the Pulse and will share a majority of its parts
with partner Nissan's Micra hatch.

Looking at how the hatch market has taken a sudden liking to diesels, the car will be launched at the 2012 Auto Expo in Delhi with the 1.5-litre dCi engine. The mill has been seen previously on the Micra, Fluence and Nissan's recently launched Sunny sedan. While the focus will be on this variant, the petrol option is not being ruled out, and will be the nice and torquey three-pot 1.2 litre engine, again from the Micra.

So how will the Pulse stand out from the crowd? We could say quirky French styling, but Renault would be looking at premium positioning to give the car a different spin. While the size and space of the car would still be Micra-ish, the car is expected to come loaded with features to the gills, and will be aimed at affluent small urban buyers - much like the Honda Jazz when it was introduced. We're pegging the pricing to lie higher than the Micra, in ranging between Rs 6-8 lakh across petrol and diesel variants, but we'll have to wait until the Expo to actually decode Renault's gameplan with the Pulse.

This certainly seems like a smart strategy for new solo entrant Renault, still in the process of ramping up both its production facilities to be able to handle the demands of the Indian car space, and also create enough dealerships and service outlets to allow the brand to thrive. Creating a niche in the crowded premium hatch space based on design, price and positioning while still keeping the logistics simple with the Micra piggyback may not create great numbers in sales, but should help the marque make its presence in the country more concrete.



Source: Zigwheels.com

[scuderiamania]

First the vento and the rapid. Now Micra and this. Its only going to take so long before all manufacturers start producing identical cars and just put there own badges in their respective factories!

[Nilesh5417]

Another love me or hate me looking car. And if its going to be premium hatchback b/w 6-8lakhs, which is a lot, it better come loaded with all the bells and whistles. Wonder how much roomier can it get over the Micra tho.
Is Renault getting it wrong here?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

With Micra sales struggling, what sense does it make to introduce it with a new gril under a new brand? Renault has the same weakness that Nissan shares - weak service and sales network.

Not to mention - the looks have gone worse!

[hellmet]

At first glance the car itself looks so similar to the Nissan Micra it would pass off as a rebadged Micra. If Renault is also pricing this on par with the Micra none of these cars would move since Nissan is already a moderately established brand and Japanese.

[MalluDude]

That's how the Micra would look after a face lift(which it is :-))

To Renault's credit, they've decided to go with the diesel model straight away. Hope they price it a tad below Micra, which seemed to me on the higher side, albeit with the safety features.

[deetjohn]

Oh No! I was expecting a rebadged Modus and we get a slightly reskinned Micra? Was this the big surprise from Renault?

I hope the interiors are different and the Diesel does get ABS, BA etc.

[ravi_23]

Renault missed the trick completely. They should have looked at the nissan micra as a test guinea pig and learn from its drawbacks/short comings. Introducing the pulse as a premium hatch doesn't make any unless they have loaded it with tons of features. Instead they should have launched it at a lower cost with less features to compete with mid range hatchbacks.

[octane_100]

Somebody please tell me this was just a practical joke by Renault India! I mean come on, please, this is Renault just being lazy, period. Fluence, Koleos and Pulse. What should we call them? The 3 Duds? and the Renault management? The 3 Stooges perhaps.

[andromeda]

Renault-Nissan seems to have messed up their strategy in India.
India knows Renault is the VFM brand (Logan). They tried to
get rid of it with Fluence /Koleos and failed miserably.
Now they are promoting Renault as the premium (Fluence/Koleos)
and Nissan as the VFM brand (Micra/Sunny). Aren't Japanese/Germans
good with engineering and French with Art/Design? :-)

For Pulse to get the numbers they need to price their diesel
variant on par with the petrol Jazz. If they again goof up on the
pricing then Jazz & i20 will walk away with all the honors in petrol
& diesel respectively

[MAS]

IMO, the car looks good. Better than the Micra. I just hope Renault does not go overboard with its pricing.

OT: the article from Zig Wheels mentions the 1.5 Litre Dci engine being used in Nissan Sunny. Did I miss the launch of Sunny D?

[autobahner]

Guys is it only me who sees what is so very obviously a Nissan Micra that wants to be Skyline GT-R from the front? Sorry but my 2 bits. On second thoughts a Micra with GT-R mill inside does seem like a delicious albeit frightening proposition.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please avoid quoting an entire large post. It inconveniences our small screen & mobile readers.

[mohandasnikhil]

The Alloys look interesting!
Thats all I have to stay about this launch. Completely pointless. They'll manage to find very few takers. Soon the car will run discounts, then have a price reduction. Then manage to move a hundred units, and ultimately die a slow death.

[GSM]

What the heck? Is it a joke? Gosh! This reminds me of countless MGR movies, in which he plays some mysterious character, whose only difference from the original character is one big mole on the cheek, and needless to say, the villain can't figure this out.

Soon people will start thinking that Renault Pulse is nothing but a typo on the Nissan Micra. Having said, if it is priced well, it may find good takers.