A more powerful petrol variant is expected in the future though.
Speaking to Indian Autos Blog at a media roundtable recently, Renault India's managing director and CEO, Mr. Sumit Sawhney, ruled out a diesel variant on the small car, Kwid.
The Kwid was launched last month with prices starting at INR 2.56 lakhs for the Std. variant and INR 3.53 lakhs for the top-end RxZ with a driver-airbag. It is powered by a 799 cc three-cylinder petrol engine which develops 54 PS and 72 Nm of torque with a class-leading efficiency of 25.17 km/l.
Mr. Sawhney said that the Kwid targets the first time car buyer who prefers to opt for a petrol-powered cars. There wouldn't be any takers for a diesel vehicle in this segment, he added. The Kwid's competitors, the Maruti Alto 800 and the Hyundai Eon, are available with petrol engines only, though the respective manufacturers also offer LPG/CNG variants on them.
In the case of the Kwid though, 50 percent of the cost of development was spent on the powertrain, Gerard Detourbet, Alliance Global Vice President, Alliance A-Segment Development Unit, told Indian Autos Blog. While a diesel is ruled out on the small car, Mr. Detourbet confirmed a more powerful petrol engine and an automated manual transmission (AMT) sometime in the future.
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Sawhney said Renault had taken three initiatives with the launch of the Kwid - a Kwid app, which allows users to book the car after browsing its features, a virtual showroom that is a webcast-style live presentation at certain times of the day where viewers can also pose questions to get answers in real time, and a mobile workshop which is a doorstep service.
Sawhney added that buyers of the Kwid, with just INR 20,000, could completely personalize their car with accessories. He said there was a catalog of 60 accessories for the Kwid at launch.
