[Thilak29]

why step-motherly treatment towards diesel variants!?

[pedalpoint]

Yes, as the members have rightly pointed out it is indeed expensive.

Is the new CKD tax law leading to its high price?

"However, Renault is quick to add that all future launches will be locally manufactured at the Chennai plant (shared with Nissan). "

- When they start manufacturing locally will the prices come down?

[shivasuma]

Why would I want to buy this car? Well, probably space is its only advantage over others. The diesel would cost around 15.5OTR in Bangalore. For that kind of money, people would opt for the Cruze LT and still save over 75K. Like others have mentioned, I dont think Renault is taking the indian market too seriously. Expect huge discounts down the line.

[auto-one]

A nice and detailed review, Stratos. Helped me to get lot of information about the car. Thanks.
I don't quite understand the logic behind Renault launching this car, that too without understanding the Indian market properly. It seems they were in a terrible rush to be visible with something, in India.
The Fluence doesn't seem to have those attributes that Indians like to have in their cars, esp. in those costing nearly 15 L. The car has no strong USP and I would be surprised if the car sells well.
On second thought, probably the company might be testing the Indian market with this launch ( keeping in mind the Logan disaster ) and would be expecting more from its future launches, more so from the hatchback. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

[sumathindra]

Excellent pictures and review. Who are its likely competitors please and the price point looks compelling!

[Stratos]

Originally Posted by sumathindra

Who are its likely competitors please and the price point looks compelling!

Please check the second post for specifications and price comparison of the Fluence with its competitors.

[razor4077]

Pretty disappointed by Renault's effort with the Fluence. It seems that they missed surveying their competition, because I'd struggle to justify buying a Fluence over a Laura, Cruze, Civic or Altis. Will TD one though, to get a first hand idea about it, but after reading Stratos' report (great review by the way!), am not expecting much.
Good to have more options though... keeps the other companies on their toes

[Jaggu]

Great review Stratos and good shots of the car too Look wise am ok with it, though i had a feeling it will look quirky, your shots make it look much better. Hope its the same in real life also.

This is one of the jack of all trades but master of none cars i guess. Understandably diesel is being pegged as a taxi? from their logan stint? I think its a bad idea. There exists and pretty good market for diesels in this segment, provided its loaded properly with convenience and gizmos.

Hope atleast the next launch to be a little more exiting

[StrangeWizard]

Hey thats a great review Stratos!
I went to check out the Fluence at the new Renault showroom at Andheri just besides the Merc and Honda showrooms.
The car's build quality is good. I hope they provide better A.S.S and the spare parts and service costs are not exorbitant.

[mayjay]

The amount of features that have been left out of the diesel seem to imply that Renault is leaving a vacant space for a higher variant to occupy later.
Things like RCA auxiliary inputs are a little more difficult to understand though, even from fundamental principles. Isn't variety of parts across variants supposed to increase costs? Why deprive your paying customers of small conveniences when it costs you next to nothing.

[basilmabraham]

Thanks for the review Stratos. The product looks feeble when compared to imeediate rivals. Need to wait and watch how the market receives the car.

Are the airbags any different than the normal ones we see. I nothiced that the airbags have a 'SRP' nomenclature than the normal 'SRS'. Is this any better, how does it compare with SRS. Sorry if this is too noob a question.


My Fiesta and i10 come with SRS

Edit: googled and found the answer in the following link. Any more info would be appreciated.

[download2live]

They lost the battle even before it started. Wonder who they hired to do market surveys. Looks wise I like this car. But they goofed up big time on the Diesel.

[Frontosa]

Why can't new car companies spend few days reading t-bhp threads? Is it very difficult to create a checklist of what is necessary what people will like and what would be a segment first and finally what the USP of the car would be? This seems to me like a disastrous start + I m thinking, these companies call t- bhp for review, why dont they call to provide inputs, get it verified, build and then launch? Lol

[Unknownsatan]

Is it just me or ...
The plastic looks to be of very very poor quality. Looks almost like Indica type. Man, in no way it looks like a car worth even 10L. One look at the interior will make people decide against it.

[noopster]

Renault has completely lost the plot with Fluence. Just loking at the comparo in post #2, one is hard-pressed to see why anyone would put their money down on a Fluence. In the petrol segment, Laura TSI with its monster of a 160 HP engine and manual transmission is a far better driver's car. The Civic and Altis come with pedigree and impeccable after-sales service records. At least VW and Skoda can boast "German" marque value, what does France stand for in the Indian context? Nothing- except a couple of dud cars- the former Logan and the Peugeot 309 which nobody remembers anyway!
Coming to diesel, Renault has shot itself in the foot by launching a bare bones model. As many here have pointed out, anyone who wants bling will go for the Cruze and if staid predictability is your thing, the Altis D4D is your bet. The Laura DSG even in Ambiente trim is a far better equipped car than the Fluence diesel.
Like someone rightly said, it seems Renault is in a hurry to get over their failed JV with Mahindra and this "rebound" offering is something they thought up in a hurry. With only 14 dealerships across the country, no less.
Sorry to say, it's a nice car but will most probably bomb badly and Renault has nobody to blame but themselves.