Conspicuous by its absence at the Auto Expo 2014 is the Renault Lodgy. Renault didn’t want to draw the limelight away from the facelifted Koleos and Fluence and hence, decided to leave the Lodgy out of its Auto Expo display. However, Renault insiders have confirmed that the Lodgy has been given the green light for production. In fact, production will start at Renault-Nissan’s Oragadam plant near Chennai in December with sales scheduled to begin in early 2015.
Like the Duster SUV, the Lodgy is also a Dacia that will be sold as a Renault in India. It’s a fair bit larger than the Maruti Ertiga and upcoming Honda Mobilio and this could give the Lodgy an important edge in terms of cabin space and luggage room. The Renault Lodgy, for India, is likely to receive a reworked cabin with better materials and more features such as rear air-con vents.
At launch, the Lodgy will be available with Renault’s ubiquitious K9K 1.5-litre turbo-diesel in its 85bhp avatar. The 105bhp version of the same engine will be offered too, though at a later stage.
Apart from the engines, the Lodgy shares a lot of other components with the Duster SUV and this will undoubtedly help Renault minimise costs and give the Lodgy a competitive price. We expect the Lodgy to be priced between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 11 lakh, at which price, the practical MPV could just give Renault its first big hit after the Duster.
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