Engineered by the Romanian carmaker Dacia, with plenty of inputs from parent Renault, the Logan was billed as the car for the emerging markets. It was deliberately designed to look solid and has been engineered to be built at a cost.
But surprisingly, the Logan has done well in developed automotive markets too. Just goes on to show that no matter what, the appreciation of value-for-money is a universal phenomenon.
Everybody knows that the Logan is being readied for launch in India by Mahindra-Renault and that it will be on our roads before June 2007. For those who are wondering, the Indian version of the Logan will be updated inside-out and slightly altered to match our tastes. So once the Logan sedan is launched in India, then what?
We're sure Mahindra-Renault will take their relationship forward with this, the new Logan MCV, which stands for Multi Convivial Vehicle - the second of the six different vehicles to be eventually spun off the Logan platform.
The production version of the Steppe concept, which was showcased at the Geneva Motor Show, took pride of place at the Dacia stand at the recently held Mondial De L'Automobile at Paris. For a car that looks the way it does, the Logan MCV got a disproportionate amount of attention from the world press.
Essentially, the MCV is an estate version of the Logan, but it's much more versatile and palpably different from estates in the conventional sense.
For one, it can actually seat seven adults. Besides that, it borrows a host of ideas from MPVs to offer modular interiors and incredible versatility. Other than class-leading interior space and exemplary build quality, the Logan MCV comes with comprehensive safety features too.
For most countries, the Logan MCV shares the same engine options as that of the sedan (and various other Renaults too!) - three petrol engines and one diesel. The 1400cc petrol engine develops 75 bhp at 5500 revs and 11.5 kgm of torque at 3000 revs, while the 1600cc version is good for 90 bhp at 5500 rpm and 13 kgm at 3000 rpm.
Both these engines are paired with a five-speed gearbox borrowed from the Laguna II and Megane II. A hot, sorry, warm 1600cc 16-valve unit which was recently introduced in the Logan is also available for the MCV. This engine's 105 horses at 5750 revs and 15 kgm at 3750 revs allows the MCV to attain 100 kph in 11.8 seconds and a top speed of 174 kph.
This engine gets a different, sporty five-speed manual gearbox. But the most popular engine for the Logan or the MCV in India will be the turbodiesel. Renault's 1.5 dCi offers 70 bhp at 4000 revs and a 16.4 kgm of turning force at just 1700 rpm. Featuring second-generation common-rail technology, this unit is considered to be pretty frugal too.
Interested? Well, we suggest you hold your horses, because we expect the Logan MCV to be with us only by 2008.