French car-maker Renault has sold over 50,000 unit of its small car Kwid in India in the last seven months. The company launched the Kwid towards the end of September 2015, and it's gone down well with customers for its pseudo-SUV stance. Sumit Sawhney, managing director and CEO of Renault India, announced at the Auto Expo 2016 in February that the car had received over 1 lakh bookings. The number reached 1.25 lakh by the end of April.
With a higher localisation level of 98 percent, the Kwid currently retails at a starting price of Rs. 2.62 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi. The car is powered by a 799cc three-cylinder petrol motor, which is tuned to churn out 53bhp at 5,678rpm and a peak torque of 72Nm at 4,386rpm, mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. The small car got overwhelming response also due to features such as the Medianav system that has navigation Bluetooth audio streaming, hands-free telephony, USB and aux-input ports, and speed-sensing volume control. The car also returns ARAI-claimed fuel efficiency of 25.17kmpl, which makes it the most fuel-efficient petrol car in the country.
Following its success in India, Renault started exports of the Kwid in March to Sri Lanka. Sumit Sawhney recently said exports to the SAARC region would begin this year, and this would be followed by the launch of the Kwid in Brazil. He also said Renault was exploring the African markets.
Renault will also add 1,000cc and AMT versions to the Kwid range for the Indian market soon. Both variants were showcased at Auto Expo 2016 and are expected to be pricier than the current variants of the Kwid.
