Renault Fluence facelift showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo

With the Fluence, Renault had quite a bit of trouble pushing its executive saloon off the shelves. With an underpowered engine and devoid of any outstanding features, the company was at pains convincing customers to buy into the brand’s first offering. The facelifted car gets an updated front bumper, with main changes to the headlamps that now come with projector lamps and LED daytime running lights and fog lamp housed together in the bumpers, while the nose flaunts the new family face — the large diamond-shaped Renault logo at the centre of the grille. The 16-inch alloys get a complete makeover and now sport a premium looking 5 V-spoke alloys. Changes on the inside include an updated instrument cluster and a touchscreen navigation system.

Under the bonnet, the engine remains the same K9K 1.5-litre powerplant putting out 110bhp of power and 250Nm of torque mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox which scores big time on fuel efficiency though more power would have been welcome. It will be quite interesting to see how the Fluence fares against its main rival — the updated Corolla Altis — which in the past has obliterated the Fluence in sales. Prices start at Rs 14.22 lakh for the base version, ex-showroom Delhi.