Renault Kwid
Renault KwidRenault

The competition in the hatchback segment in India is getting intense with the arrival of the automated manual transmission (AMT) variants of popular models like Renault Kwid and Tata Tiago to challenge the dominance of Maruti Suzuki's Celerio AMT and Alto K10 AMT. While we hear that the launch of Tiago AMT might still be couple of months away, French carmaker Renault is not ready to wait. The Kwid AMT is expected to go on sale in coming days and the booking for the model is already underway.

Now what is new? The Kwid AMT will retain the current styling and features, and the biggest change is the addition of the rotary gear shifter. The Shift Control Dial, which will offer three driving modes -- Reverse, Neutral and Drive -- will be placed at centre bottom of the dashboard next to the control button for door lock.

The Kwid AMT will be offered in the 1.0-litre engine variant and will be available only at the RxT (o) trim level. Another interesting factor is that the Kwid AMT will have higher fuel efficiency than the 1.0 litre Kwid. The Kwid 1.0 litre delivers a fuel economy of 23.01kmpl, whereas the upcoming AMT model is expected to clock a mileage of 24.04 kmpl.

The new Kwid AMT will take on the likes of Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 AMT and Maruti Suzuki Celerio AMT in India. It is expected to get a price tag starting at Rs 4.29 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

As for features, the Kwid AMT will continue to feature Touchscreen infotainment system with navigation, USB, Bluetooth audio streaming and aux, remote keyless entry with central locking, front power windows, foldable backrest and passenger-side ORVMs.