Renault India launches the Triber starting at Rs 4.95 lakh     

Renault India has launched the Triber at a starting price of Rs 4.95 lakh for the base RXE variant, going up to Rs 6.49 lakh for the top-end RXZ variant. The Triber is developed in India and is based on the Kwid. It will be available in four trims - RXE, RXL, RXT and RXZ.

Powering the Triber is a significantly retuned 1-litre three-cylinder petrol engine from the Kwid that now puts out 71bhp of power at 6250rpm and 96Nm of torque at 3500rpm, which means that the engine both revs higher as well as makes its torque lower down in the rev range. As of now there’s only a five-speed manual transmission on offer.

One of the main features that Renault wants to draw attention to the different seating modes it has to offer. The Triber can be configured to seat up-to seven people in what the company has listed as four modes, namely Life mode, in which five people can be seated by sliding and reclining the seats individually; Tribe Mode, which is the seating configuration to accommodate seven people; Surf Mode, in which the seats can be adjusted around large objects like a surf board or sport supplies, and Camp mode, for two people and, as the name suggests, the essentials for camping (or as the brand says, adventure).

Apart from that, the Triber also gets a cooled storage on the central console, and cup holders which are accessible to everyone between the first and second seats. In addition to the lower glove compartment, which is also cooled, there is also an upper glove compartment with a capacity of more than four litres.

The Triber can be unlocked with a smart access card, and the all-digital 3.5-in instrument cluster (as seem on Captur) that displays speed, trip and fuel consumption data, framed by three virtual gauges that make up the tachometer, fuel gauge and engine temperature readout. Speaking of connectivity, the Triber gets an 8-inch multimedia touchscreen system that supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

“With the launch of Renault Triber today, we will enter the largest and the fastest growing segment of the Indian automobile market. Renault Triber will reinvent the game in terms of space and modularity, targeted at a wide set of customers across segments, led by the B-segment. With its attractive pricing, Renault Triber is the perfect fit for Indian customers, who place a high premium on value proposition, in a car purchase decision. We foresee Renault Triber to be a key part of our expansion plans in India, as we look forward to growing the Renault brand in this diverse and exciting automotive market,” said Venkatram Mamillapalle, Country CEO and MD, Renault India Operations

Renault India says the Triber is part of Renault’s product offensive strategy, aimed at doubling sales to 200,000 units annually. Renault’s sales network spreads to over 350 touchpoints currently while the service centres are limited to just 264 outlets, although Renault aims to double its network reach by the mid-2020.

The Triber undercuts the competition as the price of its top RXZ variant (RS 6.49 lakh) can be compared with that of the base variants of its compact SUV/MPV competitors, such as the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Tata Nexon. Now, though it has some competition from sister brand Datsun’s Go+ MPV (thus far the most affordable seven-seater, starting at Rs 3.86 lakh for its base D variant), the low sales of the Go+ mean that there is very little chance of scavenging. And the base LXi variant of the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, which was so far the people’s choice for family-movers, is a whopping Rs 1.05 lakh more than even the top-end RXZ variant of the Triber. So going by the sales of the Kwid, we’re sure that Renault has a winner on their hands.

Variant-wise pricing is as follows:
RXE - Rs 4.95 lakh
RXL - Rs 5.49 lakh
RXT - Rs 5.99 lakh
RXZ - Rs 6.49 lakh