The Renault Captur has been discontinued in India in a short span of two years. The small SUV was launched in India in November 2017.
The Renault Captur’s journey in India was the opposite of the Renault Duster. While the latter saw a phenomenal success during its early years, the more modern but slightly smaller SUV was off to a rocky start and never managed to sell in decent numbers. The soft exterior didn’t let it be perceived as an SUV, and that was likely one of the biggest let-downs for Indian customers, who have a strong preference for traditional SUV proportions, especially since the launch of the Renault Captur and Hyundai Creta.
Another area where the Renault Captur never appealed customers in our market was the interior. Both design and equipment inside the cabin are not of the same standards as the Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos, the models which rule this segment. Pricing, too, was a hurdle in scoring good sales.
At launch, the Captur was priced from INR 9.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), and at that time, this entry price was much higher than competition and mind that this was with BS4 engines. The starting price of premium B-SUVs started bordering INR 10 lakh (ex-showroom) only in 2019. With the BS6 and safety upgrades pushing the costs, customers have finally adjusted to this price hike in the segment. Renault, on the other hand, took a u-turn and slashed the entry-price of the Captur to INR 9.49 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) last year, but it was probably too late by then.
Internationally, the Renault Captur received its mid-life facelift recently and switched to an updated version of the B0 platform called B0+ with the same recently. It will continue being sold at least in Russia and CIS markets.
Also Read: 2021 Renault Captur facelift interior and rear end revealed
Maybe Renault plans to make the third-gen Duster contemporary enough and thus avoid the need for another SUV like the Captur in the same segment in India now. The company is skipping the second-gen Duster and will directly launch the third-gen Duster here, and that won’t happen anytime before 2022. Stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog.com for more Renault updates and other four-wheeler news.
