Adding to Renault’s arsenal of SUVs – the new Kiger

Renault South Africa is looking at increasing their range of SUVs with the new Kiger. This recently unveiled addition will complete Renault’s offering, joining the ranks with the likes of the Kwid, Duster and Triber. Although the Kiger is intended for the Indian market, we should see it arrive on our shores as early as Q3 of this year.

So what does the new Indian designed and produced B-SUV have to offer? For one, it has an almost identical, familiar face to the unique looking Kwid, making use of a divide in the front lighting setup, with the LED DRL’s in their own compartment above the pure vision LED headlamps. The symbolic Renault logo remains a large, bold statement intersecting the grille and the bonnet line. Rugged black plastic trim lines the bottom extremities of the car and it boasts 205 mm ground clearance. Which should give it fair capabilities over uneven terrain. An angular rear wing is seamlessly integrated above the rear windscreen while C -shaped LED tail lamps create a friendly looking aesthetic superimposed onto the available 6 base colour coats with dual tone customisability as well. 

A sensibly laid out interior surrounds the driver with creature comforts including a configurable 7” TFT driver display cluster and an 8” touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality. Boot space on this sub-4-meter car is impressive at a claimed 405 litres capacity, while optional extras can include a front parking sensor, rear parking camera and a wireless charging bay.

Powering the Kiger is either a 1.0 liter three cylinder turbo-petrol engine with ratings at 74 kW and 160 Nm or a more affordable 53 kW, 96 Nm naturally aspirated (N/A) 1,0-litre petrol engine variation. The turbo is available in either a five-speed manual gearbox or a CVT while the N/A motor is paired to a five-speed manual or a five-speed automated manual transmission. 

The local market is yet to receive an official spec list and price sheet and while it is on sale in India, the country of its origin, for between 545 000 and 972 000 Rupee’s (R109 000 and R195 000 respectively), South Africa can be expected to pay a fair amount more. It should be locally priced to compete with Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue and the Nissan Magnite, which it shares many similarities with.