Renault-Nissan developing 800cc petrol engine in India

Franco-Japanese car making combine Renault-Nissan is betting big on India. The car making alliance has just unveiled the Datsun low cost car brand, whose first product, in the form of the GO hatchback, will hit Indian roads early next year. While the Datsun GO will borrow the 1.2 liter-3 cylinder HR12DE motor from the Nissan Micra, Renault-Nissan is jointly developing a new 800cc-3 cylinder petrol engine for new small cars.

The entry level small cars that will use this engine are anticipated to be the Renault A-Entry and the Datsun i2 models. According to the WallStreetJournal, the 800cc petrol motor is being developed by the Renault-Nissan Technical Center in Chennai. Dubbed the BR08, this 3 pot motor will be developed with inputs from Nissan and Renault's global Research & Development centers at Japan and France respectively. 

The rationale behind developing a new 800cc engine in India, for the entry level small cars is to keep costs at a bare minimum. The engine could feature a high amount of localization. Once built, the 800cc petrol engine will be the smallest powerplant in Renault-Nissan's global range, even smaller than the 900cc Energi TCe90 turbo petrol motor that Renault unveiled last year.

The entry level hatchback segment in India is a high volume sector with every car maker worth its salt trying to gain a foothold in this segment. A highly price sensitive segment, big volumes make up for the relatively lower margins. Cars in this segment are predominantly petrol powered, with a sprinkling of CNG/LPG options, as buyers tend to cover limited distances in terms of monthly mileage. 

The Datsun i2 and the Renault A-Entry cars are expected to compete with the likes of the Maruti Alto 800 and the Hyundai Eon, both cars featuring a high level of localization. The i2 and the A-Entry hatchbacks will roll out of the Renault-Nissan joint factory in India. The cars will be launched in India during 2015. Based on these cars's success in India, Nissan and Renault may export them to emerging markets across the world.

From merely being a low cost-high quality manufacturing hub for the automobile industry, India is turning out to be a vital cog in the development of new vehicles. For instance, the Datsun GO hatchback has been developed by the Renault-Nissan technical center in Chennai. The Datsun i2 and the Renault A-Entry are two other India-specific cars being developed from scratch in the country. 

With the 800cc petrol engine also being developed in India, the country's engineering workforce is adding more value to the automobile sector's research and development space. On a similar note, Bajaj Auto has worked closely with KTM of Austria, to develop the recently launched Duke 390 motorcycle while Honda is working on an unnamed designed-in-India two wheeler.