Low cost Renault XBA hatchback spied up close

Manufacturers in India have slowly, but surely realized the importance of offering low cost and compact models in their arsenal. Renault has been testing the XBA to target the lucrative low cost hatchback segment and the car has been spied up close.

The car was spied on test in Himachal Pradesh by a reader of automotive website Motoroids. The test mule has been heavily camouflaged, but provides an idea of the XBA's proportions and a few styling cues.

At the back, the car features a prominent definition line on the tail gate and rear bumper, a high mounted stop lamp, while the tail lights are almost in line with the number plate housing. Up front the test mule features large clear lens headlamps, a black wing mirror and the car features a similar single blade wiper for the windshield as the Datsun GO. The tyres also appear fairly thin like the GO's, but the test mule appears to ride on rubber made by Ceat and not by Strada.

An image of the interior was also snapped and the car seems to get dual tone fabric upholstery for the seats, an old school pull up/push down type lock, a 3-spoke steering wheel, while the gear-lever has been sourced from the Renault Duster.

The XBA will be a part of the Common Module Family or CMF platform developed by the Renault-Nissan Alliance, christened as CMF-A (platform for the smallest and least expensive cars from the alliance). Rivals will include the Maruti Suzuki Alto and Hyundai Eon, with the launch speculated to take place towards the end of 2015.

Source: Motoroids