Dr Pawan Goenka, executive director, Mahindra & Mahindra, has lauded the Renault Kwid hatchback for being an exemplary ‘Make in India’ product.

Speaking at a seminar on making India a global manufacturing hub for automobiles and auto components at the Make in India Week in Mumbai today, Dr Goenka said, “The automobile industry being the flagship industry of India, it is fair to say that it has grown exponentially in the last 20 years. We have proven in 20 years that from doing low-labour components, we have now come to cars and styling and making globally competent cars. We now see that all multinational companies have R&D bases in India. The best example I would like to give is of the Renault Kwid. A multinational came to India, built the car in India, and then launched it in India with all the features that we would like to have under US$ 4,000 (Rs 252,000). It is a very frugal and highly innovative car built by using the Indian mindset.”

Further, Dr Goenka stressed on the important decisions the government has taken over the years. “There are some decisions made by the Indian government which changed the scenario of the auto industry in a way which wasn’t cited back then. The government’s sub-4-metre excise duty has propelled the Indian auto industry with all carmakers now having a car measuring 3995 or 3999 mm in length. It was a decision that created quite a stir but look at it now – it has forced the world to look at small cars differently, thanks to the Indian Supreme Court.”

“Moreover in 1999, the Supreme Court enforced BS II emission norms in Delhi, which was opposed strongly by everyone. However, since then, the auto industry has progressed a lot in terms of emissions. Both these decisions were not welcomed at the time but they are actually helpful now,” he added.

Dr Goenka summed up his speech by declaring that the Indian auto industry aims to be among the world’s top three in the next 10 years, adding that India is already a hub for manufacturing although a lot still needs to be done.

The Kwid - a game-changer

The Renault Kwid, which recently won Autocar India's prestigious 'Car of the Year 2016' award, has a very high localisation level of 98 percent and was built on the carmaker's CMF-A global platform. For leading the successful creation of a car that represents Renault’s gutsy move in the Indian small car market and also getting Indian component suppliers to think out of the box, Autocar Professional voted the Chennai-based Gérard Detourbet, Alliance Managing Director, Alliance A-Segment Development Unit, as its 'Man of the Year 2015'.  

On the sales front, the Kwid has been a true game-changer. Since its launch on September 24, 2015 at a very aggressive price of Rs 257,000, the Kwid has sold nearly 24,000 units and currently has a waiting period of 4-6 months, for which the company is ramping up production. Renault India has over 80,000 bookings in hand for the hatchback. The car has also given the carmaker's sales a new fillip as overall domestic sales numbers for the April 2015-January 2016 period have risen to 50,474 units, helping it post 43% growth year on year.  

Prime minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated the Make in India Centre in Mumbai on February 13, was presented a hand-made scale model of the Kwid by Sumit Sawhney, country CEO and managing director of Renault India Operations (pictured below).

The Kwid, which has been designed, engineered and manufactured in India, will soon be exported to foreign markets. Shipments to Sri Lanka are slated to commence next month.