Renault Kaptur spotted testing in India

A heavily camouflaged prototype of the Renault Kaptur has been spotted testing in India. These are the first spy shots of the Kaptur in the country. Media reports claim that Renault would place the Kaptur as a rival to the top-end variants of Hyundai Creta and Honda BR-V. The crossover is expected to be launched by the end of 2017 or early 2018. Renault will be producing the Kaptur locally at the Renault-Nissan alliance plant in Oragadam, near Chennai.

Though the spotted model is heavily camouflaged, it clearly shows design characteristics that are similar to the international-spec Kaptur. The CUV is already on sale in Europe, Brazil and Russia. It features a more rounded design, especially in comparison to the boxy appearance of the Duster. Having LxWxH dimensions of 4,333 mm X 1,813 mm X 1,613 mm, the Brazil-spec Kaptur is 18 mm longer, 9 mm narrower and 82 mm shorter than the Duster. However, the Kaptur and Duster have an identical wheelbase of 2,673 mm.

Renault is expected to equip the India-bound Kaptur with the same 1.5-litre dCi four-cylinder diesel engine that powers the Duster. It will be mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard, and will develop 108 BHP and 245 Nm of torque. An automatic variant might also be on offer. Reports also suggest that the Kaptur's range-topping trim might come with an AWD (all-wheel drive) system.

Seeing the Indian market's radical shift towards petrol-powered vehicles, the Kaptur might also be introduced with a 1.6-litre four-cylinder SCe petrol engine, which is expected to get both manual and automatic gearbox options.

Source: IndianAutosBlog