India’s average motorists need a sub 4-meter car, powered by a small engine and with lots of space inside. This trend, which goes easy on family budgets, has attracted Renault, whose latest proposal for the local market is called the Triber.
Shown earlier this summer, the people carrier with crossover styling influences follows in the footsteps of the Kwid, although with two extra seats and a very roomy interior, in a car that doesn’t break the bank. In fact, the local media expects it to start from the equivalent of $7,000, less than half the price of a new Toyota Yaris in the States.
The highly versatile interior features 100+ possible seating configurations, including sliding and reclining second-row and easy to remove and install third-row, both of them offering sufficient space for adults. No matter where they sit, occupants enjoy air vents and 12V charging ports or USB sockets. Furthermore, drivers have an 8-inch touchscreen display at their disposal, with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Most aspects sound promising so far, including the boot capacity, which is 625 liters (22.1 cu-ft) after removing the third row. But surely, offering that much in a very small package built on a budget means that the automaker had to sacrifice a lot, right? From the cheap plastics to the tiny engine, which produces only 71 hp and 71 lb-ft (96 Nm) of torque, available with a 5-speed manual or 5-speed automatic transmission, everything screams compromise.
Is that so, however? Well, Autocar India’s reviewer, who drove the Triber at Renault’s test track, was actually very excited about it. Must be a reason for that, we presume…