Scoop: Renault's XBA hatchback spotted in India

Renault's upcoming small car has been caught on camera by a Motor Vikatan reader. The car is heavily camouflaged, hence no design cues are identifiable, except the manual left ORVMs as seen on the cars from the '90s.

Codenamed 'XBA', this small car from Renault will share its underpinnings and engine with the Datsun redi-Go concept (seen earlier at the 2014 Auto Expo). This car 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).

Renault's XBA hatchback will compete with cars from two of India's largest car makers - Maruti and Hyundai; Renault will have to outperform the Alto800 and Hyundai Eon in every aspect to create a dent on their sales figures. Previously, Datsun introduced the Go targeting the same segment but hasn't met the kind of success which the company would have desired.

This car is likely to roll out from the Renault-Nissan Alliance plant in Chennai and the company is hopeful that it will manage to generate sales volumes. Renault currently has 5 cars on sale in India, however, the Duster alone comprises of 95% of total sales for the company.