Renault to up Kwid production as demand soars

French automaker Renault — buoyed by the grand success of its small hatch Kwid in India, and in a bid to cater to the growing demand — has decided to ramp up production capacity for the car.

Talking to Deccan Herald here on Thursday, Renault India Country Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Sumit Sawhney said, “Since the Kwid’s launch in the latter part of last year, we have received 1,25,000 bookings for the car, and we’ve delivered 50,000 cars till date.”

According to sources, the waiting period for the Kwid had gone up to six months, since the production was affected by floods that hit Chennai in December, and over time, it has reduced to around 2-3 months. It must be noted that the Kwid received an overwhelming response even prior to its launch, thanks to the company’s digital and other marketing initiatives.

“Kwid is a great success story. The demand for the car is growing, and many customers today, keen to buy the car, are unwilling to wait long to get it. Hence, to provide more customers with the Kwid experience, we are ramping up production at our Chennai facility to 10,000 units a month. We have also introduced a third shift to help increase production,” Sawhney said.

Currently, Renault India has an installed capacity of 4,80,000 units at its manufacturing facility at Oragadam in Chennai.

The company plans to launch a 1,000 cc variant of the Kwid very soon this year, besides a model with automated manual transmission (AMT) around the second half of 2016.

Sources said that in Bengaluru alone, around 700 units of Renault Kwid are sold monthly, after considering sales by all the dealerships put together.

Used-car drive

Meanwhile, the company has forayed into the pre-owned car space, with the launch of Renault selection on Thursday. The first outlet under this brand has opened in Bengaluru, with plans to open outlets in Jaipur, Nagpur and Chandigarh as well. By the end of this year, 20 Renault selection outlets are envisaged by the company, aiming to hit 50 outlets by the end of next year.