French carmaker Renault had recently unveiled the facelift for its premium saloon, the Fluence. This is the first major update for the French saloon since its international debut in 2009 and its Indian launch in 2011. Renault has made both mechanical as well as cosmetic upgrades on the facelift. As speculated, the car inherits the design changes from its recently updated South Korean cousin, the Samsung SM3.
Upfront, the facelift features a re-sculptured front bumper along with a new grille assembly. The new single frame grille resembles the one on the Koleos SUV, thanks to the identical chrome accents. Other exterior tweaks include the new headlamps that now incorporate halogen projectors, fresh alloy wheel designs and an optional rear-spoiler.
On the inside, the Fluence gains new equipment, with some of the new goodies revealed in this rather uninspiring video. You now get an electronic-parking brake as standard, which will be a segment first for India, a sunroof on the top-end variant and an updated audio-system.
Under the hood, the petrol-Fluence gets a comprehensive ECU remap that increases both, the power-output and fuel efficiency. The 2.0 litre in-line-four engine now delivers 140 BHP @ 6000 RPM and 195 NM of peak-torque @ 3700 RPM. Despite the power-bump, Renault claims a fuel-economy of 15.6 kpl for the Petrol CVT, which for such a heavy car is quite good. Since the Fluence sells only in its petrol spec in Mexico, we are yet to know whether the 1.5 Diesel will get a similar tweak or not. However, considering the Duster uses the same engine in a higher-state of tune, Renault may just plonk in the same unit in the Fluence too.
There is no official word about when the facelifted Fluence will come to India, but we reckon it’ll be here shortly after its European launch. The Fluence currently sells just over a 100 units every month, which shows how important this facelift really is. Once launched, the updated Fluence will definitely be a worthy contender to the Hyundai Elantra and the Volkswagen Jetta.
Enjoy the Fluence video
A big shout-out to Renault Mexico for sharing with us these photographs and specification sheets.
Image Source: Renault
