Renault India will launch the much-awaited Kwid hatchback today. The French carmaker that had unveiled the car in India in May, 2015 is expected to price the Kwid in the range of Rs. 3 lakh - Rs. 4.5 lakh (ex-showroom). As far as Renault Kwid rivals are concerned, other than the country's largest carmaker's Alto 800, it will also take on Hyundai Eon and others in budget hatchback segment.
Delving into details, the Renault Kwid features over 98 per cent localisation, and is built on an all-new platform - the CMF-A - that was co-developed by Nissan and Renault. The same platform will also underpin one of Datsun India's upcoming small car.
The Renault Kwid will be house an all-new 799cc, 3-cylinder engine, also developed by the Renault-Nissan alliance, under the hood. Mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox, this engine churns out 54bhp and 72Nm. With a weight around 660kg, the vehicle will surely offer a great power to weight ratio. The company claims that this engine will help the vehicle return the best-in-class mileage of 25.17kmpl. With such an impressive fuel-efficiency figure, the Kwid will also become the country's most fuel-efficient petrol car.
Also Read - First Drive: Renault Kwid
To be made available in 4 variants - Std, RxE, RxL and RxT - the Renault Kwid will come up with several first-in-class features including Media-Nav with a 7-inch touch-screen display and navigation system, a digital instrument cluster, boot-space of 300-litres, etc. That said, the vehicle misses out on even the most basic safety features. Only the top-end variant of the Kwid will get a driver airbag, and that too as an option. The base variant, even, misses out on the left-side wing mirror. While the safety features look compromised, it's the design of the Kwid that outsmarts all of its rivals. With a crossover-like design and a high ground clearance, the Kwid looks like a mini SUV.
