Renault Fluence

Intro

The Renault Fluence is another all out attempt of the French to enter much less dominate the Indian car market. After the failure of the Renault Logan, the French giant has decided to mend its ways using the Renault Fluence. Recently, the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at Renault, Stephen Norman remarked that the Logan failed in India due to its deficient looks but Renault will make up for it using the Renault Fluence. Let’s see about that, given that the Renault Fluence will be face on in terms of competition with the Civic, the Corolla, and the Laura in the Indian market. External markets have shown that the Renault Fluence has failed to secure market position against the vehicles mentioned above abroad, so it can be largely said that the Renault Fluence may not live up to aspirations from it entirely.

Describing the Outsides

The Renault Fluence is a hybrid mix of many different vehicles and their styling concepts all put in new positions. The hood is without a doubt an elongation of the Toyota Corolla as are the head lamps from the previous version. The rear lights resemble those on the new Toyota Corolla 2010 and later model years. The rear area between the B and C pillars is all Honda Civic at work. The Skoda Laura displays itself clearly in the – roof, yes take a closer look and find out. Overall, the Renault Fluence seems a copy and that too an ill timed one as most other vehicles have come out with newer shapes up till now. The front bumper is large with a large front grille with horizontal braids going all across with no hints at chrome or any other such style. The small front grill right underneath the hood of the Renault Fluence is embarrassing and ill placed to say the least due to its small size and non functional placement. Neither is this small front grille going to cool the engine on the Renault Fluence, nor is it going to add to visual appeal, then why have it here in the first place?

Understanding the Interior

As far as the Renault Fluence exterior goes, it is other car manufacturer centric but as far as the interior goes, it is a different story entirely. The interior of the Renault Fluence have been done in style and elegance so as to assure full visual appeal for the Indian car buying public. The quality of build and construction materials is absolutely amazing especially when put against the competition. In these terms, the Renault Fluence is a clear and all out winner and will stun the Indian public for sure. The dashboard is defined by four very large horizontal segments which are done in plastic but deliver the looks of having been done in leather. Actually, if it was done in leather on the Renault Fluence, it would make this a stunner in the B category of the Indian market.

Powering Dreams

The engine on the Renault Fluence will most likely be available in gasoline and diesel version simultaneously. The diesel variant is rumoured to be a 1.5 litre engine which has a maximum power output of 105 bhp which is very amazing given that a similar size engine on the Premier Rio does only 65 bhp. The Renault Fluence will become a clear winner in these terms in the market. The maximum torque produced will be 240 Nm and the engine of the Renault Fluence will power up a six speed manual transmission.

The other variant done in gasoline is suspected to be a 1.6 litre four cylinder straight inline engine. The total power output on this engine of the Renault Fluence is some 140 bhp! The maximum torque output will be just around 300 Nm which again is huge for a vehicle priced like the Renault Fluence. The only transmission option is again the same six speed manual transmission which is highly acceptable.

End of the Day

In attempts to compare apples to oranges and peaches, the Renault Fluence will be looking forward to rampant market competition. Renault has done a beautiful job on the interior and it wouldn’t have hurt to redo the exterior a little more before implementing it on the Renault Fluence. Even so, the Renault Fluence may create a personal market niche due to the engine.