French carmaker Renault followed a different approach to market the Kwid, which has proven to be a runaway success in India. The carmaker placed a higher emphasis on digital marketing with an aim to reach the young buyer. 

“We had to think differently (for Kwid to be a success). When we launched the Kwid (in September 2015), we were up against established players in the segment. The challenge was huge. Apart from traditional marketing, we were also looking to use digital as a strong reach medium,” Renault India’s marketing head Virat Khullar told Autocar India.

The company came up with a three-pronged digital strategy. It involved the introduction of an app and a virtual showroom to enable prospective buyers to explore the Kwid, and launched a huge social media engagement to increase awareness.

Available on both Android and iOS platforms, the app serves as an e-brochure where users can see images and watch videos of the hatchback, both on the inside and out. A year on, the company has received more than 21,600 bookings just through the mobile app alone, on a total booking for 165,000 units. There has been over 400,000 downloads of the app.

Renault also tied up with mobile payment platform Paytm in Delhi NCR a couple of months ago to further facilitate online booking and/or make booking amount payments at dealerships with their Paytm wallets.

“We look at e-commerce as a great opportunity to reach a wider audience who are happy to transact online. We partnered with Paytm with this mindset. From Delhi, we now have extended our partnership to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. In just around 12 weeks we have received over 600 bookings for the Renault Kwid through Paytm,” Khullar added.

Renault India has seen its fortunes rise exponentially on the back of an astounding response to the Kwid. As of today, Renault India has posted a growth of 67.8 percent, with sales of 12,409 units in October, up from 7,396 units during the same period last year. The carmaker crossed the one lakh sales mark with cumulative sales of 111,387 units in January-October 2016.