Renault to export made in India Kwid hatchback to Sri Lanka from March

Renault India's entry-level hatchback, the Kwid, made headlines early this month with the bookings of over one lakh cars. Till now, the French car manufacturer sold over 25,000 units in the country after the launch of the hatchback on Sep. 24, 2015. Renault is all set to capitalise on the positive response in India and take it to the international market by exporting the car to Sri Lanka from next month.

"After receiving a great response for the Kwid here, we are now planning to aggressively export the car to other international markets. We will export to the SAARC markets first, starting with Sri Lanka," told Sumit Sawhney, CEO and MD of Renault India, to Autocar Professional.

The volume of export for Sri Lanka and other SAARC countries will be low in the initial stage. Sawhney stressed on the huge potential of these countries going forward. Renault India has already planned export of Kwid to Brazil and other parts of Latin America. Export to Africa is also scheduled for this year. The Kwid will be exported to the SAARC countries as Complete Built Unit(CBU), while to Latin America and African markets it will be Completely Knocked-Down (CKD) line.

Based on the CMF-A platform co developed by alliance partner Nissan, the Kwid is manufactured with 98% localisation. The Kwid range now starts at Rs 2.59 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi. The hatchback 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, and mated a five-speed manual gearbox. The car also returns ARAI-claimed fuel efficiency of 25.17kmpl, which makes it the most fuel-efficient petrol car in the country.