French auto major Renault today launched a new version of small car Kwid in India powered by 1.0 litre petrol engine and priced up to Rs 3.95 lakh (introductory price, ex-showroom Delhi), as it aims to take on the market leader Alto K10 from Maruti Suzuki.
Renault currently sells Kwid with an 800cc (0.8L) engine priced between Rs 2.64 lakh and Rs 3.73 lakh.
The new 1.0 litre variant comes in two variants priced at Rs 3.82 lakh and Rs 3.95 lakh, respectively. Buyers, will now have to shell out Rs 22,000 more for the top model of the 1,000cc variant.
Maruti Alto K10 is priced between Rs 3.25 lakh and Rs 3.82 lakh for manual variants (all prices ex-showroom Delhi). It also comes with CNG and auto gear shift options.
"With this launch, we look forward to welcoming more customers into Renault family as we endeavour to aggressively build our presence in India," Renault India Country CEO & Managing Director Sumit Sawhney told reporters here.
The company is enhancing production capacity of the model as it wants to reduce the waiting period from 2-3 months to 1-2 months, he added.
"We are producing 10,000 units of Kwid every month. We can ramp up further if required upon launch of the newer versions," Sawhney said.
When asked if the company is also looking to bring the model with an auto gear shift transmission, Sawhney said, "We are still working on it."
He added the company is in the process of building up its product portfolio in the country and would launch one model each year over the next few years.
Kwid has been a success in the country with the company having already retailed over 1.65 lakh units of the model since its launch last year.
The variant comes with a brand new 1.0 litre SCe engine which is optimally designed for better performance.
It also comes with various features like sport designer graphics on the doors, pro-sense seat belt pre-tensioners with load limiters, among others.
On the company's future plans, Sawhney said, "Our roadmap for India is very clear with an immediate goal of achieving a market share of over 5 per cent by the end of this year."
The company will continue with its product offensive strategy, reinforced by the Kwid 1.0L SCe launch, and substantially grow the Renault brand in India, he added.
"Together with our product portfolio expansion strategy, we are also significantly increasing our sales and network reach in India," Sawhney said.
The company also plans to increase sales network to 270
outlets by the end of this year.
In order to offer servicing at the customer's doorstep, Renault also plans to have 25 mobile workshops across the country by the end of the year.
The company offers the service in Kerala.
Sawhney said the company has already started selling Kwid in Sri Lanka and plans to launch it in Nepal later this month.
"Early next year, manufacturing of the model would begin at other markets as well," Sawhney said.
