Renault Kwid sales cross 1.30 lakh in India; could prove game-changer for auto company

Renault Kwid, the volume driver of the French carmaker in India continues to sustain its momentum in the market and has once again proved that it is indeed a game changer. The Kwid sales in India have crossed 1.30 lakh and are still counting.

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The Kwid, the small car with SUV-stance has been on sales in India since September 2015 and has given Renault a breakthrough in India. Renault grew its market share to 4.5 percent at the end of 2016, achieving a three-digit growth over 2015.

"Over the last few years, Renault has focused on establishing a strong base in India. Together with a strong product offensive strategy led by Kwid, Renault has been continuously undertaking strategic measures across all key business dimensions, ranging from product, network expansion, pioneering customer-oriented activities and several innovative marketing initiatives to ensure unmatched customer satisfaction," said the company in a statement.

The Kwid was originally launched with 800cc engine, but the company was quick to add 1.0 litre engine to its line-up in the country owing to overwhelming response. And Renault was not ready to rest on its laurels even after that. It then went on to launch the AMT avatar (automated manual transmission) of the Kwid in India. The Kwid comes 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 car also returns ARAI-claimed fuel efficiency of 25.17kmpl.

On the other hand, the 1.0 litre variant of the model gets 999cc 3-cylinder engine that can churn out 67bhp of power at 5500rpm and 91Nm of torque at 4250rpm. The Kwid 1.0 litre claims to deliver a mileage of 23.01 kmpl. The new Kwid AMT, which was launched in November 2016, is available in the top-end RXT variant of the car, and comes powered by a 1.0-litre engine.

Renault is expected to add more variants of the Kwid in India in coming months.