[aravind.anand]

Hope Renault launches the Fluence with these set of alloys. They're really cool. The car though doesn't look sporty. What are the speculated specs for the Diesel engine. Any idea guys?

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by vishnana

As far as manufacturing/assembly facility sharing with NISSAN its true , but may not be the dealership and service network .

Could be - I dont see any other way they can start sales other than selling thru the Nissan outlets - 2 months [Fluence launch is in June as per the site] is way too less time for them to start new dealerships & A$$ outlets and hence made the statement.

Originally Posted by DaiusPitar

I can say this much. I loved the way these cars appeared to be handling themselves on the road. The phrase I believe is 'they appeared planted and composed' at these speeds and the turns involved. The three of us were at almost a fixed 100Kmph throughout this distance.

My brother and me were impressed with the looks as well. I for one am waiting for this car.

Did you get to see the way the cars were accelerating from slow speeds? And which car were you driving ? Any comparisons on sizes / interiors etc ?

[DaiusPitar]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Could be - I dont see any other way they can start sales other than selling thru the Nissan outlets - 2 months [Fluence launch is in June as per the site] is way too less time for them to start new dealerships & A$$ outlets and hence made the statement.



Did you get to see the way the cars were accelerating from slow speeds? And which car were you driving ? Any comparisons on sizes / interiors etc ?

I was driving my safari 2.2. I suspect both the vehicles were diesel frm the black exhaust smoke upon sudden and hard acceleration. At these points it was tough to keep up with them. But these cars were effortlessly weaving thru the traffic
Cant comment on the interiors. But this model has a big car feel to it from outside.

[ashutoshb]

Good News: Launch later this month.

Bad News: Price likely to be increased by up to Rs 2 lakh.

Reason: Increase in tax on locally assembled cars.

Source: Luxury cars to become costlier as major carmakers will soon raise prices of cars assembled in India - The Economic Times

[Abhi_Automobile]

This is extremely poor news for Renault. However, I expect the upcoming Jetta to be affected similarly, so it should even out. But Renault does not have any kind of brand awareness in India, let alone brand equity. VW is 'German' so it can get away with relatively high pricing, but not Renault.

Ideally, this should be at Cruze prices if they really want to compete.

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by Abhi_Automobile

This is extremely poor news for Renault. However, I expect the upcoming Jetta to be affected similarly, so it should even out.

If you had observed, the Jetta was never really in the race! It was just another option, but sales were nothing to write home about. The real battle was always between the Corolla Altis and the Cruze in this segment.

[ikoneer]

Saw this car doing rounds in the Chennai - Bangalore highway, there were 3 cars with different colors. Only the monograms were hidden.
I asked the driver what car it was and he said it was Ford.
Today, i bumped into this thread and looks like its a Renault.

[Abhi_Automobile]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

If you had observed, the Jetta was never really in the race! It was just another option, but sales were nothing to write home about. The real battle was always between the Corolla Altis and the Cruze in this segment.

Yes, I agree. But with the way VW is going aggressively in India, I expect that to change with the new Jetta. The new Jetta is much bigger and shaould be priced slightly more competitively than the outgoing model. The current model is far too boring to attract junta's fancy. I am saying that after looking at the way VW has gone directly for the AHNC with Vento.

Anyway, I have said this earlier and will say this again , Renault needs to have a very very competent product priced aggressively to have a realistic chance of success. BTW, I think cars like Corolla Altis diesel are sitting ducks waiting to be shot down with better quality competition.

[designersf]

Originally Posted by Abhi_Automobile

Yes, I agree. But with the way VW is going aggressively in India, I expect that to change with the new Jetta. The new Jetta is much bigger and shaould be priced slightly more competitively than the outgoing model. The current model is far too boring to attract junta's fancy. I am saying that after looking at the way VW has gone directly for the AHNC with Vento.

Anyway, I have said this earlier and will say this again , Renault needs to have a very very competent product priced aggressively to have a realistic chance of success. BTW, I think cars like Corolla Altis diesel are sitting ducks waiting to be shot down with better quality competition.

I do agree that the new Jetta will be better in every way except styling. If you think the older Jetta is boring, the new one is boring an all new level. It is too familiar to the Vento and lacks character. Might work for some but not for me. The Altis sells well partly because its a Toyota but the Cruze sells well because its a very good car. So what about the Fluence then?

[radiokidb]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

Hope Renault launches the Fluence with these set of alloys. They're really cool. The car though doesn't look sporty. What are the speculated specs for the Diesel engine. Any idea guys?
Attachment 541133

The specs autocar mentioned was the same 1.5 litre diesel that powers the logan/micra, but tuned to produce around 105 bhp for the Fluence

[Abhi_Automobile]

Originally Posted by radiokidb

The specs autocar mentioned was the same 1.5 litre diesel that powers the logan/micra, but tuned to produce around 105 bhp for the Fluence

This another reason that it needs to be priced well. I assume that the new Jetta will come with 2 lt 140 bhp engine (shared with Laura). The Cruze already has 2 lt 150 bhp. So, a weaker engine should immediately strike down the price by more than 50k (1 lac maybe?). Some money deducted for the lower brand equity. So, in all, the Fluence should be cheaper than new Jetta/current Laura than say 1.5 lacs. If so, it hits the sweet spot (=Cruze pricing).

Originally Posted by designersf

I do agree that the new Jetta will be better in every way except styling. If you think the older Jetta is boring, the new one is boring an all new level. It is too familiar to the Vento and lacks character. Might work for some but not for me. The Altis sells well partly because its a Toyota but the Cruze sells well because its a very good car. So what about the Fluence then?

I personally think that the new Jetta looks much better than the earlier one. And just like GTO, I too like the clean styling of Vento/POLO. BTW, I really think that Honda/Toyota enjoy inequitable (read disproportionately high)brand popularity in India. Very countries other than India tend to buy cars because its Toyota (and thus has to be great)

[radiokidb]

Originally Posted by Abhi_Automobile

This another reason that it needs to be priced well. I assume that the new Jetta will come with 2 lt 140 bhp engine (shared with Laura). The Cruze already has 2 lt 150 bhp. So, a weaker engine should immediately strike down the price by more than 50k (1 lac maybe?). Some money deducted for the lower brand equity. So, in all, the Fluence should be cheaper than new Jetta/current Laura than say 1.5 lacs. If so, it hits the sweet spot (=Cruze pricing).

Yep, given the competition, it is an engine which belongs in a segment below. But then again, Toyota are managing to sell the Altis with its puny 88 bhp engine! If the Renault engine can manage to keep the lag down, it might just be acceptable. And after all, the octavia had a 90 bhp engine and did ok, and even the laura/jetta had a 105 bhp engine until it was replaced by the current 2.0. Of course competition has moved on and now cars like the Verna in segment below sport 126 bhp engines. So it remains to be seen how the market reacts to the fluence. Btw im not sure if the base variants of the Laura/Jetta will sport the 140 bhp trim, they might continue with the current 110 bhp versions.

[Abhi_Automobile]

Originally Posted by radiokidb

Yep, given the competition, it is an engine which belongs in a segment below. But then again, Toyota are managing to sell the Altis with its puny 88 bhp engine! If the Renault engine can manage to keep the lag down, it might just be acceptable. And after all, the octavia had a 90 bhp engine and did ok, and even the laura/jetta had a 105 bhp engine until it was replaced by the current 2.0. Of course competition has moved on and now cars like the Verna in segment below sport 126 bhp engines. So it remains to be seen how the market reacts to the fluence. Btw im not sure if the base variants of the Laura/Jetta will sport the 140 bhp trim, they might continue with the current 110 bhp versions.

--> I don't see any point in new Jetta/Laura having the lower tune 2 lt version. They should simply use the 2 lt 140 bhp version. In fact, they should give the new Jetta 1.6 TDI from Vento to keep the base variant guys happy.

--> As I quoted earlier, Toyota enjoys disproportionately high brand equity in India. Else, there is nothing special about the Coroalla Altis diesel. In fact, if you replace the Toyota badge with Fiat, the folks in India (including most on tbhp) will suddenly discover 10,000 faults with the same car.

--> I don't doubt the 105 bhp engine. Just that I think this in turn means that the price needs to be ultra competitive.

[designersf]

Originally Posted by Abhi_Automobile

This another reason that it needs to be priced well. I assume that the new Jetta will come with 2 lt 140 bhp engine (shared with Laura). The Cruze already has 2 lt 150 bhp. So, a weaker engine should immediately strike down the price by more than 50k (1 lac maybe?). Some money deducted for the lower brand equity. So, in all, the Fluence should be cheaper than new Jetta/current Laura than say 1.5 lacs. If so, it hits the sweet spot (=Cruze pricing).



I personally think that the new Jetta looks much better than the earlier one. And just like GTO, I too like the clean styling of Vento/POLO. BTW, I really think that Honda/Toyota enjoy inequitable (read disproportionately high)brand popularity in India. Very countries other than India tend to buy cars because its Toyota (and thus has to be great)

The thing about Corolla not being a good car are false. Im not a Toyota loyalist but I do think the Corolla is a good car, not the best mind you. The reason Corolla's 90bhp doesnt matter is because those who go for the diesel are most likely to be chauffeured. That's also got to do with Toyota's image and the car's appeal. Comparitively, those who buy the Civic tend to drive their cars. However, there are quite a few who will prove my point wrong in reality. The Fluence IMO will be a car that will predominantly be driven by individuals. So like you mentioned, 105bhp might not look enough on paper but its real world performance is what we must wait and watch.

I too prefer the styling of the Polo to any other hatch at the moment but when I go upmarket, the same doesnt hold true, atleast for me.

[swiftnfurious]

Mods, could we have the title updated as Renault Fluence launch on May 23, 2011 ?


Just got the below tweets from Sirish [OD] and Hormazd Sorabjee [ACI].

Sirish Chandran

Renault unveiling the Indian-assembled Fluence today at chennai. Prices and public unveiling on 23rd. Deliveries from 10 Jun

By June, 12 Renault dealers - all metros & big cities. Up from 7 that was initially planned. By year end 40 dealers. By 2012 - 100 dealers

Renault focusing heavily on the dealership experience as a brand differentiator. 5 sense exp Incl smell in showroom, water you get etc

Renault brand experience will be 'one class above' business class treatment at economy prices

Fluence gets 1.5dci engine - yup same one as Logan & micra. 106ps, 240nm. 21.8kmpl ARAI fuel eff which is best in class.

2.0 petrol 137ps, 190nm, 13.42kmpl ARAI, 6 speed CVT & 6 speed manual

Renault strategy : Fluence & koleos this yr, 3 in 2012 incl duster & hatchback. By 2012 claims will have 'india's youngest range

Hormazd Sorabjee

Renault starting with 14 dealers in 12 cities when Fluence launched in June 2011. Plans 100 dealers in 55 cities by 2012. Very ambitious

Fluence diesel gives 21.84kpl in ARAI drive cycle

Fluence price will be revealed on May 23rd. My guess is Rs 12 lakh for petrol and Rs. 14 lakh for diesel.