Renault India just launched Government approved retrofit CNG kits across its lineup including Kwid, Triber and Kiger. Prices for these retrofit CNG kits start from Rs 75,000 and are offered in a phase-wise manner. Similarly, Nissan Magnite CNG is also in the works and a formal launch is likely to happen soon.
Nissan Magnite CNG
Currently, Magnite is Nissan India’s bread and butter as it is the only vehicle on sale in India. The company recently updated it with a facelift, offering more features and equipment than its predecessor. There is a considerable increase in premium appeal, owing to the improved cabin ambience with soft-touch materials.
Even with the facelift, Nissan could use more sales as reflected by a steep 16.03% YoY decline in sales charts. In India, CNG variants have been a popular approach to boost sales and many OEMs make use of it. While Maruti Suzuki, Tata and Hyundai offer factory fitted kits, Honda offers retrofit kits, a strategy which Renault started offering from yesterday.
As suggested by automotive enthusiast Vivek Mishra, Nissan India is testing CNG kits with Magnite in the country. In a recent service centre visit, he observed that Nissan India is officially testing CNG kits. What Mr Mishra witnessed, could very well be training of personnel from the vendor like in Renault’s case and a launch is likely to be around the corner.
What to expect?
Speculations point towards the same retrofit CNG kits from the same vendor as its alliance partner, Renault. Pricing might be similar as seen with Triber and Kiger – Rs 79,500, while it was Rs 75,000 with Kwid. Renault is offering 3 year warranty on this retrofit kits and promises no change in performance.
It has to be noted that Renault is only offering these retrofit CNG kits with naturally aspirated 1.0L 3-cylinder engine and a 5-speed manual gearbox combinations and the same might be the case with Nissan Magnite CNG. Mileage figures are not disclosed by Renault and it will be interesting to see if Nissan does the same.
We don’t think there will be any increase in features or equipment as Magnite just got a facelift. However, Magnite’s boot space will take a hit as it might not be a dual-cylinder implementation like Tata and Hyundai’s CNG offerings. Tata Punch i-CNG and Hyundai Exter Hy-CNG Duo will be the primary rivals apart from its alliance cousin Kiger CNG.
