The Renault Kwid at 3,500 euros, the keys to success

Reporting "Asre Khodro", The Kwid at very low cost? A success. Renault sold 80,000 vehicles in India in the first eight months of 2016, including 65,000 units of the small entry-level car. “We are hoping to cross the threshold of 100,000 units over the whole year,” said Sumit Sawhney, head of Renault’s operations in India. Last year, Renault sold a total of 50,000 vehicles on the Indian market. Marc Suss, director of the entry-level car program of the tricolor manufacturer, says Renault plans to produce ” 100 to 150,000 units a year ” from the Kwid in Chennai, in southeast India where the Renault Alliance -Nissan has its factory. The car is sold in the country since September 2015 from 3,500 euros. Besides its price, The Kwid is seduced by its massive bodywork “SUV” – in dimensions close to the European Renault Twingo -, its good road qualities, its modernity and its “high tech” equipment like GPS optional. The unprecedented 800 centimeter-cubic engine is also deemed sober. Unlike its rivals in the Korean Hyundai or the Japanese Suzuki, the Kwid was developed on an unprecedented platform, the “CMF-A”.

Presence at the Sao Paulo Show

This vehicle, however, has suffered recently from a counter-advertisement that it would have happened. Because the Kwid does not offer great protection in case of shock! ” The results surprised and disappointed Global NCAP ” indicates a communiqué dated September 19 of the organization that organizes the crash tests. ” After poor results earlier in the year, and following the latest improvements made by Renault (…), the vehicle still offers a single star (out of a maximum of five) for the protection of adults, ” said the organization. Not brilliant, even if security is not the primary concern of Indians, far from it!

The Kwid will soon begin outside of India. The Chennai plant is actually starting its exports. The Indian Kwid will soon be sold in South Africa. And that’s not all. Renault also manufactures the vehicle in its Brazilian plant in Curitiba. The South American version, which is safer (body reinforcements, four airbags) and more expensive to meet tougher standards, will be one of the attractions of the Sao Paulo show, which will be held from 10 to 20 November 2016. The car will be economically very attractive in the key niche of the “Carro popular”, a category fiscally favored in Brazil. Equipped with a 1,000 cubic centimeter engine, this Brazilian Kwid is expected to be produced around 100,000 annual units, according to Olivier Murguet,

Soon produced in Tangier?

And it’s not over. Renault’s projects also include industrialization in Iran and Russia in various forms. Extended versions with more classic four-door bodywork and 4×4 derivatives are envisaged. A concept of a barbed version, called Climber, was presented at the last Delhi show at the beginning of the year. By adapting it to European standards, the Kwid should also come within two years … in Western Europe, under the logo of the Romanian brand Dacia. The vehicle is expected to be produced in the giant Renault factory in Tangier, Morocco, even though Renault officially maintains the mystery on it. The site has for him available capacities and a very low cost of labor, from 2 to 3 euros per hour, against 30 in France! Price envisaged: around 6. 000 euros in basic version. This European Kwid would offer a Dacia for almost 2,000 euros less than a current Logan (basic version) …

With its future derivatives , ” Kwid will be a very big contributor to the volumes of Renault’s access range ,” says Marc Suss. But Renault is not alone in the running. The ally Nissan also marketed last June its own version of this car at very low cost. Its entry-level brand Datsun launched the Redi-Go, also produced in Chennai, India, at prices ranging from 238,000 to 334,000 rupees (from 3,140 to 4,400 euros).

How has Renault managed to create a real vehicle at this rate? First condition: study it in India where the hourly wage cost is less than 10% of that of France. So, if the draft of the platform “CMF-A” was directed primarily at the Technocentre in Guyancourt in France, the local center of the Renaut-Nissan Alliance in the Chennai suburbs took charge of Physical development of the vehicle for three years. ” With an investment cost of 420 million euros for the entire program for Renault and Nissan, ” explains Gérard Detourbet, project manager. That is ” twice less than a normal project ” .

source: qtelegram.com