“I think the differentiator is the design. Well, obviously, the Duster being such a success, made us feel that an SUV design would be much better accepted. So we said, let’s do something which appeals to the consumer,” Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO, Renault told Autocar India in an interview recently.
The Kwid set itself apart from its competitors instantly, when it was revealed in May this year, due to a raised bonnet and a high ground clearance. The Kwid shares much of its design essence with the Duster. It has sharp squared off bumpers that protrude far out from the grille, and the fog lights are set in deep air inlets. The car is built on the company’s highly flexible CMF-A architecture platform.
Apart from the design, Renault is confident that the fuel efficiency and safety features of the Kwid will be better than the competition.
“And then let’s not forget fuel efficiency, which is going to be top-of-its-class. We’ve also designed it to have much more space. Whereas usually, the rear seats are used only 15 percent of the time, in India, it’s much, much higher. You also have the navigation system and airbags which, as I understand, do not exist in other cars in the class,” Ghosn said.
Moreover, localization of the Kwid is at 97 percent, making it only multinational automaker after Maruti Suzuki to acquire such a high level of local content.
The Renault Kwid is likely to be available in the second half of 2015 at a very competitive price point of
around Rs 3-4 lakh. Going by the Kwid’s distinguished SUV-like appearance, competitive features and pricing, the French automaker seems to have got the formula right this time around.
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Dipan Sur
Glenn Noronha
Dhruv Dhaka
