Exclusive: Datsun Magnite could be the Datsun sub-4 metre SUV for India

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Datsun may be shutting shop in some other tough-to-crack markets, but in India, it plans to stay and is already charting a growth path. IndianAutosBlog.com has learnt that Nissan, Datsun's parent company, has filed a trademark application for 'Datsun Magnite' name in India, thus indicating an upcoming new model, perhaps a concept.

Datsun will scale-up its Indian operations with the help of a number of new products and one of them will be a mechanical cousin of the Renault HBC. The Renault HBC is likely to premiere in concept form at Auto Expo 2020. Datsun's version of this model could be previewed with a concept called 'Datsun Magnite' around the same time at a press event (Datsun won't be present at Auto Expo 2020).

The Renault and Datsun sub-4 metre SUVs will be based on the CMF-A+ platform that debuted in the Renault Triber this year. Renault's model will reportedly employ a 1.0L turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine. This engine is said to be the HR10 unit that's already on offer in the fifth-gen Nissan Micra and the fifth-gen Renault Clio internationally. It's made in MPI (100 PS/160 Nm) and DI (117 PS/180 Nm) versions. It can be had with a 5-speed MT or a CVT.

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance is pulling the plug on diesel engine technology in India, and so, the upcoming small SUVs will be petrol-only models.

Also Read: Datsun GO CVT and Datsun GO+ CVT launched in India

The Renault sub-4 metre SUV is said to be launched in H2 2020, while the reported launch timeline of the Datsun sub-4 metre SUV is late-2020. We expect the former to come out by August and the latter a few months later, right before Diwali. While the Renault HBC will be launched any time in H2 2020, the Datsun Maginte's production model may follow by end of the same year. These SUVs will compete with the likes of Maruti Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue and Tata Nexon.