French car major Renault has received over 25,000 bookings for its entry-level car, Kwid, in less than two weeks since the company launched it in India at a starting price of Rs 2.56 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
The new car, which comes in four variants, will compete with Maruti Suzuki's Alto and Hyundai's Eon, besides Tata Motors' Nano.
"The Renault Kwid has created a huge excitement since its launch and we are thrilled with the response it has received just at the onset of the festive season," Renault India Operations, Country CEO and MD, Sumit Sawhney, said in a statement.
"The Indian consumer has shown tremendous confidence and trust in the Renault brand. The initial response has been very exhilarating and the bookings are constantly increasing."
The tier II and tier III cities have also shown huge response reaching out to dealerships with inquiries and booking requests for the car, he added.
"The Renault Kwid's delivery will start in the festive season beginning next week and will be available across all our dealerships across the country," Sawhney said.
Kwid, which was launched on 24 September, is powered by the all-new 800 cc engine delivering mileage of 25.17 kmpl, making it the country's most fuel-efficient petrol car.
Renault is betting big on the Kwid as it chases a market share of 5 per cent in the Indian market by 2017, from the current level of just below 2 per cent.
With the new model, it's entering the mini car segment, which accounts for nearly 25 per cent of the total automobile sales volumes in the country.
The Kwid will be offered in six variants with the top spec RXT (O) trim costing Rs 3.53 lakh. The Kwid hosts a few first-in-segment features such as a touchscreen infotainment with sat nav and a fully digital instrument cluster.
A driver's side airbag is offered as optional on the top-end RXT (O) trim. An array of personalisation packs and accessories are offered too. The Kwid has an SUV-like exterior.
Renault is looking to make India a regional hub for exporting the new car.
The Kwid will be made at the Renault-Nissan Chennai factory, and as much as 98 per cent of the suppliers are Indian. The localisation was a strong push right from the beginning of the project. Renault says the Kwid is a global car, it is a global platform. The launch is in India because it is heavily localised and production is here. More importantly, Renault believes that the Kwid will face its biggest challenge here in India as the segment it enters is vast. The company says, that if “Kwid makes it in India" then the success should follow it to other countries too.
The car wears a strong-looking Renault grille with rectangular headlamps and a muscular, squared-off design. The side cladding makes it look sort of like a small SUV from some angles and we believe that’s going to stand the car in good stead in showrooms. The high ground clearance and the strong wheel arches are all part of that design. Renault has stated that the car was designed in France and India.
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(With inputs from PTI)
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