Renault India unveiled the Kwid hatchback in 1.0-litre avatar at the Auto Expo 2016 in the beginning of February. The launch of this model has been rumoured in June. Ahead of the launch, the vehicle was spotted testing near Chennai, where Renault India has a manufacturing plant.
The pictures of the Kwid published by anything-on-wheels show 'SCe' badge, which is expected to denote 1.0-litre engine. There is no indication whether the testing model is equipped with AMT gearbox. The spy pictures suggest the Kwid could comes with alloy wheels. Currently, Renault does not give alloy wheels with any of the variants of the Kwid. This means either 1.0-litre Kwid may come with alloy wheels or Renault may bring a premium variant to the current 800cc model.
The Kwid 1.0-litre is identical to the currently selling 800cc engine equipped model in terms of design. The 1000cc petrol unit that is expected to develop over 65bhp mated to five-speed manual transmission. Renault is expected to equip the 1.0-litre with better safety features. Dual SRS airbags and ABS can be expected in the top-spec model.
Renault is currently offering an optional single airbag only in the top-end RxT variant of the Kwid. The additions will prompt company to increase price and the 1.0-litre engine model prices are expected to start at Rs 3.5 lakh.
