Dacia Towny will challenge the Volkswagen Up!; Is this Renault's gazillionth small car?

26/05/2012 - 10:48 | ,   | Kaustubh Shinde

5 doors, 5 seats and 5 thousand dollars seems to be the mantra for taking over European markets. Volkswagen started it all with the VW Up! and now there are so many of them in the womb of European manufacturers.

Dacia Towny front viewDacia Towny rear view

But little did VW know that it will spark a revolution in Europe. A French newspaper Largus.fr reports that Dacia is developing a small car to challenge the VW Up! in 2014.

Before we deep dive into the Dacia Towny lets look at the number of small cars Renault-Nissan is developing

  • Smart ForTwo/ForFour in association with Daimler
  • Renault i2 under the leadership of low-cost car specialist Gerard Detourbet
  • Nissan's K2 - V-Platform mini Micra that could also be badged as a Renault
  • New Renault Clio - Makes its global debut at the Paris Motor Show
  • New Modus - Based on the new Clio, validation processes of this next generation model were being carried out in Chennai last year
  • Renault 5 - Speculation is rife that Renault is bringing back the iconic 5 nameplate this decade to challenge the Mini and Fiat 500
  • New Sandero - Renault has announced the next generation Sandero will be sold along with the Duster in the UK from Jan 2013

The Dacia Towny will be 3.50 meters long and will be based on an all-new modular platform. It will weigh about 800 kg and will get an all-new 900 cc engine that develops 60, 75 and 90 hp. Dacia sources have promised that the Towny will have a very attractive design and ample space at the rear without compromising the boot space. The Towny will have an attractive price tag of USD 5,000 (around 2-3 lakhs) and will be in showrooms by 2015.

Nissan would also benefit from the Towny considering the only small car that Nissan has is a Pixo (essentially a rebadged Suzuki A-Star). Largus.fr clearly mentions that the Towny is headed to emerging markets and will be produced locally in India, China and Thailand.

We have to admit that we're confused by all these small cars the Renault-Nissan alliance and its partners are developing as some of them could be rebadged versions of the same car. Is the Towny a rebadged Renault i2? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Source: Largus.fr]

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