The Renault Lodgy MPV will be the next vehicle from the French manufacturer to get an AMT automatic transmission.
The 6-speed automated manual transmission made its Indian debut with the facelifted Renault Duster, which was launched at the Auto Expo in Delhi last month. The automatic transmission, which is sourced from ZF, will be offered on 108 bhp version of the Lodgy. The variant will cost INR 50,000 more than manual transmission car. It will be available with the RxL and RxZ trims with a 7-seat configuration. Fuel efficiency figures are expected to be around 21 kms to a litre of fuel.
As of now, there is no real competition for an AMT Lodgy. The Ertiga features a 4-speed automatic transmission, which is a torque converter. It is available only on the petrol variant. Toyota is looking to launch a 6-speed automatic transmission for the diesel Innova Crysta. The automatic variant of the Lodgy could be launched sometime around July this year.
Along with an automatic variant, Renault is looking at other possible variants. A cheaper, no-frills base variant could be launched to attract fleet buyers. A petrol variant could also be launched for those who do not use the vehicle regularly.
New variants of the Renault Lodgy are being planned to try attracting more customers. Ever since its launch in April 2015, the Lodgy has failed to do well in the country and sales have declined since then. Now, on an average, Renault is able to sell only around 450 units of the Lodgy every month.
The Renault Lodgy is powered by a 1.5-litre diesel engine in two states of tune: 83 bhp mated to a 5-speed manual transmission or 108 bhp mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. For now, the Lodgy starts at INR 8.29 lakhs (ex-showroom, New Delhi) and goes up to INR 12.29 lakhs (ex-showroom, New Delhi). It competes with the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and the Honda Mobilio.
Source – Car and Bike (NDTV)