Renault Kayou won't come in diesel - Report

18/04/2015 - 17:25 | Renault Kayou, Renault | Shrawan Raja

Would be the smallest Renault in the world barring the Twizy.

Renault's Maruti Alto rival, that is baptized by the media as the Renault Kayou (codename - Renault XBA) will be unveiled on May 20. The global car will be manufactured on the CMF-A platform at the Renault-Nissan plant in Chennai with crossover styling.

Clio Renaultsport 220 Trophy EDC badge at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show — The Kayou will use a 800 cc petrol engine at the launch, while a 1,000 cc mill is on standby (Image - Clio RS Trophy for illustration)

Autocar India now reports that the Renault Kayou would not deploy a diesel engine. The model will launch with an all-new 800 cc three-cylinder gasoline engine (code: BR8) while a larger 1.0-liter (code: BR10) is apparently a future engine.

Reasons cited for the absence of a diesel engine are that the engine bay is structured to have the BR series of motors, and while a three-cylinder diesel engine was in the pipeline, it has been put on ice as diesel is shedding its cost advantage in India. The scene is quite similar to the one at Tata Motors, whose Nano diesel variant was shelved despite having reached an advanced stage of development.

The CMF-A platform used on the Kayou would help realize Datsun's entry-level car next year.

The XBA, as said earlier, would have an AMT along with a five-speed manual gearbox. The same platform would generate Datsun's base model, previewed by the Redi-Go concept, next year.

Also Read: 2015 Renault Duster (facelift) launched

Though the Kayou is a budget car, insiders inform Autocar India it would not have obvious signs of cost cutting. The company has confirmed that the car will receive its market launch in the second half of the year.

Renault Pulse - Image Gallery (unrelated)