Renault Kwid price increased following infrastructure cess proposal

Car-makers increasing prices for their offerings has become everyday news after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced Feb.29 an infrastructure cess on all four-wheelers in Budget 2016. After Tata Motors, Honda Cars India, Hyundai India, Mercedes-Benz India and Nissan, the latest car-maker to join the bandwagon is Renault India.

The French company has increased the price of its most affordable vehicle, the Kwid. The new prices listed on the website show hikes by up to Rs 3,000 for the top-end RXT Driver Airbag (O) variant. The variant, priced Rs 3.64 lakh previously at ex-showroom, Delhi, now costs Rs 3.67 lakh. The base variants, priced Rs 2.59 lakh previously, now demands additional Rs 2,145, taking the total to Rs 2.62 lakh in Delhi.

Jaitley, in his Budget speech, said the government would levy 1 percent additional infrastructure cess on small petrol and CNG cars, and the new price for the Kwid has been hiked as a result of this. When International Business Times, India contacted a customer named Joseph Koshy Michael who booked the Kwid RXT Nov. 28, 2015, in Bengaluru, he said the dealership has told him of a price hike of nearly Rs 3,000. He was informed the delivery of his car would take place by the end this month.

This is the second time Renault India has increased the Kwid's price. The hatchback was launched in the price range of Rs 2.56 lakh to Rs 3.53 lakh. It was increased by up to Rs 11,000 in January citing higher input costs. The Kwid 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, mated to a five-speed manual gearbox.