Exclusive: Renault Captur Spotted Testing In India Again, This Time In Yelagiri Hills

Ahead of its launch in India, Renault seems to be testing the Captur SUV aggressively across the country. The Captur has been spotted numerous times, testing on Indian soil, and as time goes by, it only seems to be getting closer to launch.

Last year and early this year, the Renault Captur was spotted on various highways in India. Last month, the Captur had been spotted testing in the North of India in the vicinity of Leh, being benchmarked with a Hyundai Creta - its direct rival in the Indian market. And now, these exclusive images of the Renault Captur caught testing while fully camouflaged, have been taken at Yelagiri Hills, in the south of India.

The Renault Captur for the Indian market will derive its platform from its sibling - the Renault Duster (B0 platform). This would allow Renault India to use economies of scale, and localise production of the model substantially at the Renault-Nissan alliance's Oragadam plant.

Renault is likely to sell the Captur in India with two engine options - a 1.5-litre H4K petrol and the tried and tested 1.5-litre dCi diesel, both of which currently power the Renault Duster. In the Duster, the four-cylinder petrol engine produces 102bhp, and 145 Nm and the four-cylinder diesel engine is available in two states of tune: 83.8bhp/200 Nm and 108.4bhp/245 Nm.

As the Captur will be positioned above the Duster, we do not expect it to feature the lesser version of the diesel engine, hence leaving only the 108.4bhp engine. The petrol variant could have a 5-speed manual transmission and CVT gearbox as the choices, while the diesel engine model could have 6-speed manual and 6-speed automated manual transmission (AMT) units as the transmission choices.

The diesel variant might get an all-wheel-drive system as an option. Renault, in international markets, uses a 2.0-litre petrol engine with an output of 140.5bhp and 195Nm. However, at this point, it is unclear whether Renault would even attempt to bring this engine to the Indian market with the Captur.

The design and features of the Captur being tested in India seem to be in line with the model sold internationally. The LED daytime running lights integrated into the headlamp cluster are the same as that on the international model, but the fog lamps seem to have been replaced by LED lights.

Previous spy pictures of the Captur had given us a glimpse of the interior, revealing a black dashboard and body-coloured surrounds on the AC vents as well as the centre console. The Renault Captur is 4,333mm long, 1,813mm wide and 1,613mm tall, has a wheelbase of 2,673 mm and a 205mm ground clearance. The 387 litres of luggage space expands to 1,200 litres with the rear seats folded.

The Renault Captur is expected to be launched in India by the end of this year. Renault might even be readying for a festive season launch with prices expected to start at around Rs 10 lakh (ex-showroom). The Renault Captur will compete directly with the Hyundai Creta in India.

DriveSpark Thinks!

The Hyundai Creta had a successful run because Hyundai had tapped a market in which there was little competition. However, things are set to get heated up soon in the premium compact SUV space with Renault bringing in the Captur, and Jeep bringing in the Compass.