After a long gap, entry-level car segment has drawn serious attention of other players and first-time buyers may have more choice to choose from in the sub-Rs.4 lakh segment.

French car brand Renault will start selling a feature-packed small car Kwid, which had its global premiere in Chennai on Wednesday, in India from festive season this year with a starting price in the range of Rs.3-4 lakh.

Kwid and the just-launched Tata’s GenX Nano are expected to create fresh excitement in the Indian entry-level car market, which didn’t have any impressive new launches like in other segments to offer wide choices for buyers. Kwid segment, popularly known as mini segment, has long been dominated by Maruti and Hyundai through their models such as Alto and Eon.

The chairman and CEO of Renault-Nissan Alliance Carlos Ghosn unveiled Kwid, which, according to him, will be a game-changer not just in the Indian entry-level car market but also in other emerging markets.

Powered by an all-new 0.8 litre petrol engine, Kwid will be the first product out of Renault-Nissan’s new vehicle platform CMF-A, a global platform meant to design and develop affordable cars for India and other developing markets. The group is reported to have spent close to Rs.3,000 crore for the development of the vehicle. The final price for the Kwid will be announced around the launch time.

Mr.Ghosn asserted that Kwid would come with 98 per cent localisation, a big achievement by Renault, he claimed, as no other global brand launched a car with such high localisation in the Indian market. The car will be manufactured at the Oragadam facility of Renault-Nissan combine, and will also be exported to countries in South-East Asia.

He also stated that entry car segment in India had three types of cars – attractive, innovative and affordable. Kwid, he said, combined all the three to offer a feature-rich model at an affordable price. “With an SUV look, Kwid is an attractive modern car with spacious interiors that will meet the needs of all in a family. It will also offer airbag as an option,” he added.

With launch of Kwid, French car brand Renault would be covering 75 per cent of the Indian car market. Renault’s market share in India is 1.5 per cent presently. With the recently-launched MPV Lodgy, new car Kwid and proposed network expansion, it is confident of boosting its market share to five per cent by 2016.

Mr.Ghosn reckoned that the mini segment, which accounted for about 25 per cent of the car market, would continue to see buyers coming in despite people shifting their focus on to slightly higher segment models due to rising income levels. “Higher economic growth in India will create more buyers for entry-level cars. Indian passenger car market will grow to become 4th largest after China, the U.S. and Japan over the next five years,” he added.
(The Hindu)