Earlier January, Renault, French auto maker added diesel model in its line. Following up, on Friday, Renault SA launched newly gasoline engine model Renault Pulse, based on Nissan V-platform in India as its Micra small car.

Renault Pulse supermodel small car, manufactured at the Renault-Nissan alliance in Oragadam, is available in three versions and six color options at price of base model: Rs 4.25 lakh ($7,980) in New Delhi.

Source said, the 1.2-litre gasoline model of Pulse is offered with three-cylinder engine from the Micra that produces 79 bhp, making it the only other petrol motor to be offered on a Renault badged product.

Introducing Pulse, Marc Nassif, managing director, Renault India Pvt. Ltd said, “Pulse is a mass-market product for India which has been designed and developed at our design studio in Mumbai. It is an important product for Renault India.”

Covering 44 dealerships across India, the French company plans to started sales of the Duster SUV later this year. Presently, it sells the Pulse model in India with a 1.5-liter diesel engine; adding the Koleos sport-utility vehicle and Fluence sedan.

The company plans to have five different products across different vehicle segments by the end of December as raise its dealership number to about 100 by the end of 2012.

Newly Gasoline Version of Pulse hopes to boost its car market segment directly give challenges to Suzuki unit Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Hyundai Motor Co and Tata Motors Ltd in local markets.