This is the Renault Pulse. And it is the French carmaker’s smallest, most affordable car in India. The Pulse will be priced at Rs 4.5 lakh, ex-showroom in Delhi, for the base version when it goes on sale two months from now in January following the Auto Expo. The most expensive version of the car will retail for under Rs 6.5 lakh and will be loaded. It will come with keyless entry and start, a digital climate control system, power steering, power windows all round and electric ORVMs. It will also get a stereo that will play most formats and hopefully will also get Bluetooth and controls for the stereo on the steering. We say hopefully, because the Pulse engines with the Nissan. Needless to say, the Pulse too will come with two engines – the petrol will be a 1.2-litre three-cylinder 76bhp unit while the diesel will be four-cylinder 64bhp 1.5-litre motor.

Inside, the Pulse is almost identical to the Micra. So, it has a similar design for the dash, the clocks as well as for the various control knobs and buttons. Even the inside door handles are similar. This also means the occupant and luggage space on offer will be similar to the Nissan. Given that the Micra isn’t short on space, both front and rear, compared to its competition, this should work in the Pulse’s favour. Renault officials however say the launch car will have a few more distinguishing features, but these might not necessarily be design related. 

Renault India will unveil its latest salvo, a small car, on the 29th of October. The car to be called Pulse is the third of the five new products that the French carmaker plans to launch by the end of 2012. It has already introduced a D-segment sedan in the Fluence and a luxury SUV, which is the Koleos. 

The Pulse meanwhile is a hatchback based on the Nissan Micra. So, it too shares the same V-platform like the Micra and will share the same engines and underpinnings as well and will be built in the same Chennai factory as the Nissan.

The Renault Pulse will be powered by the same three pot 1.2-litre petrol engine and the 1.5-litre diesel engine which does duty on the Nissan Micra and even has similar power and torque figures. The suspension duties too will be handled by a similar setup of MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear.

Inside, besides a new design for the dashboard, a different steering wheel and new inside door panels, things will remain more or less the same, be it the occupant space on the inside or even the boot size. But that's understandable given the Pulse and the Micra will not only have the exact same wheelbase and front and rear track measurements, but the overall dimensions of the Pulse will very closely mirror that of the Micra as well. 

The big difference between the two cars though will be the positioning. The Pulse will be positioned above the Micra and more as a premium offering. As a result the Pulse will cost a bit more. It will however come with a lot of bells and whistles. It will have driver and passenger airbags and ABS for safety, and comfort and convenience features like climate control, keyless entry and start, and steering mounted controls among others. 

Speaking to Renault officials, it was clear the idea with the Pulse isn't to sell 5000-6000 cars a month unlike most other successful cars in the segment, but to have a presence in the segment and then build on it. There are basically two bottle necks Renault is facing when it comes to doing big numbers in India. First is the limited allotted capacity at the plant to build the Pulse and second of course is the lack of a wide spread service network. The latter, however, is being worked on very seriously and the results have already begun to show, added the officials. 

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