Renault Kwid with ABS, Android Auto & new features LAUNCHED

Renault has just launched the 2019 edition of the Kwid hatchback with a slew of updates, both in terms of safety and creature comforts. Prices are unchanged despite the feature additions, which means that the 2019 Renault Kwid offers much more value than before, making it better placed to take on the newly launched, 3rd generation Maruti WagonR.  Prices of the 2019 Renault Kwid start from Rs.  2.66 lakhs, making it one of the lowest priced cars in the country.

The 2019 Renault Kwid now gets ABS as standard across all trims, along with a driver airbag, speed sensing door lock, ELR seatbelts even on the rear seat, reverse parking sensors and overspeeding alert. The top-end variants of the car also get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone connectivity options on the touchscreen.

The AMT variants of the car get a crawl mode, which Renault calls ‘traffic assist’ mode. Apart from these feature  additions, the car remains similar to the 2018 version mechanically. Competition for the Kwid comes from the likes of  the Maruti Alto, Hyundai Santro, Tata Tiago and the recently launched new Maruti WagonR. The Kwid is Renault’s least priced offering, and is mainly aimed at first time car buyers.

The safety feature additions are meant to make the Kwid compliant with the upcoming Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP) norms that come into effect from October 2019. It is not known if Renault has also strengthened the body structure of the Kwid in any way. A Global NCAP test that was conducted about a year ago revealed that the Kwid’s body structure was unstable.

The Kwid is based on the CMF-A platform. The CMF-A platform, or the common module family platform, has been jointly developed by Renault and Nissan to produce affordable cars with a high amount of parts sharing for emerging markets such as India and Latin America. Apart from the Kwid, the Datsun RediGo also uses the CMF-A platform, and soon, Renault will launch a low cost MPV based on this platform. The launch timeline for the RBC codenamed MPV is late 2019 in the Indian market.

Talking of the mechanical aspects of the Kwid, the car is available with 2 engine options – an 800cc-3 cylinder  petrol with about 57 Bhp on tap and a 1 liter-3 cylinder petrol that puts out 68 Bhp. Both engines get 5 speed manual  gearboxes as standard, and the bigger engine also gets a 5 speed AMT option. The Kwid’s butch styling and high ground clearance give it the stance of a mini-crossover, and Renault has even capitalized on this by launching the Climber edition of the car.

The Renault Kwid is available with a range of personalization options at the dealer level. These options allow owners  of the car to extensively customize their rides to make them stand out from the thousands of other Kwids on the  streets. Also, the personalization options will not void factory warranty, which is an added layer of safety for Kwid  owners.