DELHI - Remember the Nissan Magnite that was unveiled a few months back as the Japanese carmaker’s new answer to the budget SUV market? Well now its French cousin is coming into view with the reveal of the new Renault Kiger in concept form.
Described as an all-new SUV for India, the high-riding Renault appears to be closely related to the aforementioned Nissan Magnite, and both will share a platform with the recently introduced Renault Triber MPV.
It’s too early to say whether the Kiger will join the Magnite in finding its way to South African showrooms, but with the Indian-built Renault Kwid and Triber already well established here, it is certainly a strong possibility - particularly given how the compact SUV market is growing.
Renault’s design chief Laurens van den Acker says that the Kiger concept car is “very close” to the production car in terms of its styling. Like its Magnite cousin, the Kiger measures just under four metres in length, in order to comply with a tax break for shorter vehicles in India.
The concept has a 210mm ground clearance and rides on 19-inch alloy wheels, but the showroom car will inevitably don smaller tekkies. We do however hope that Renault offers something similar to the ‘Aurora Borealis’ exterior colour seen on the show car, which changes in accordance with the lighting and the angle from which it’s observed.
Renault hasn’t mentioned any engines, but it’s inevitable that the Kiger will share its 1-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine with the Magnite, driving the front wheels only - because this is very much the era of the urban SUV.
Watch out for more information when Renault reveals the production model, which will likely happen in 2021.