Renault India to launch Kwid in Nepal this month

Renault India’s Kwid hatchback has been on a dream run, notching bookings of over 165,000 units with 80,000 deliveries under its belt after its rollout last October. Now the 800cc entry level hatchback is all set to cross the 100,000 delivery mark in the coming weeks in India. 

A checklist of the Kwid buyer profile reveals that of the total customers 50 percent are first-time buyers with 60 percent being less than 35 years old and 65 percent being salaried professionals. Interestingly, 70 percent of the Kwid sales have been of the top-end variants – the RXT and the RXT (O) models.

Rolling out the 1.0-litre Kwid

Encashing on the popularity of the top-end trims, Renault India today launched these two editions with a more powerful 1.0-litre SCe three-cylinder motor in Delhi.

Carrying an introductory price tag of Rs 382,776 for the RXT option and Rs 395,776 for the RXT (O) model, which is Rs 22,000 higher than the 800cc Kwid, the two new models are available at dealerships for sale immediately.

Meanwhile, expanding its reach globally, the Renault Kwid was launched in Sri Lanka in June 2016; this month there are plans to roll it out in neighbouring Nepal, Sumit Sawhney, country CEO and managing director of Renault India Operations, told media persons today.  Early next year, manufacturing operations are slated to kick off for the Kwid in Brazil.

Anticipating a continued surge in Kwid sales, Renault India is beefing up its distribution network to 270 outlets by end-2016 from 205 outlets in December 2015. It is also sprucing up the service workshop on wheels to 25 by the year end. All these outlets will be spread across Tier 2, 3 and 4 cities.

To draw new buyers, Renault India has also introduced a finance service that will finance about 15 percent of the customer purchases.

Bullish on the used car business

In a bid to further consolidate its presence in India since it started operations in India in 2011, the French carmaker has ventured into the used car business with Renault Selection outlets. Starting with 4 outlets in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur and Coimbatore at the beginning of the year, it plans to set up another 16 outlets by end-2016, according to Rafael Treguer, VP (sales and marketing). These will come up in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai among others.

“We have already sold 1,000 cars since the start of the year and have multi-brand models at the outlets including the Maruti Alto, Hyundai Eon, Maruti Swift, Volkswagen and Fiat cars. At present, the three-year-old Renault Duster has contributed to about 35-40 percent of the total sales with 80 percent of the used car sales coming from non-Renault cars and 20 percent from the Renault models,” Treguer told Autocar Professional.

“However, in the next three years, we are targeting 50 percent of the used car sales to be of Renault models,” he added. The key growth drivers are expected to be Renault’s front-end models – the Duster SUV and the Kwid hatchback.

Of the total used car sales at present, 85 percent are of the diesel variants with the outlets exchanging new cars for the old ones that around average three years of the lifecycle. Each outlet displays about five cars within the showroom with 15 models parked outside.