[TusharK]

Renault India has gifted a Kiger, Kwid, and Triber to the Indian Army to support the mobility and transportation needs of the 14 Corps, Northern Command.



Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sudhir Malhotra, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Renault India, said, “We are deeply honoured to extend our support to the 14 Corps, Northern Command, Indian Army with the contribution of these vehicles. The Kwid, Kiger, and Triber represent Renault’s dedication to quality, safety, and the spirit of Make in India. We are confident that these vehicles will enhance the mobility and logistical efficiency of the Northern Command. Renault India remains steadfast in our commitment to community service and the well-being of those who safeguard our country. This is just a small token of our gratitude for their invaluable service.”



Renault currently offers three models in India. These include the Kwid, Triber, and Kiger. The entry-level Kwid hatchback is equipped with an 8-inch touchscreen and more than 14 safety features.

The Triber gets a 7-inch instrument cluster, a wireless charger, a driver seat armrest, and power-folding ORVMs, while the Kiger compact SUV comes with semi-leatherette seats, a leatherette steering wheel, auto-fold ORVMs, and a bezel-less auto-dimming IRVM.

Link to Team-BHP News

[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Renault India has gifted a Kiger, Kwid, and Triber to the Indian Army to support the mobility and transportation needs of the 14 Corps, Northern Command.

Pure publicity related activity. The Indian Army has no use for any of these models. Nevertheless a feel good gesture!

Renault currently offers three models in India. These include the Kwid, Triber, and Kiger. The entry-level Kwid hatchback is equipped with an 8-inch touchscreen and more than 14 safety features.

The Triber gets a 7-inch instrument cluster, a wireless charger, a driver seat armrest, and power-folding ORVMs, while the Kiger compact SUV comes with semi-leatherette seats, a leatherette steering wheel, auto-fold ORVMs, and a bezel-less auto-dimming IRVM.

Precisely why I call this a publicity related exercise. Why does this article need to have specifications of the individual models!?

[theAutomaniac]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Renault India has gifted a Kiger, Kwid, and Triber to the Indian Army to support the mobility and transportation needs of the 14 Corps, Northern Command.

Lol why would the army need such small cars? These cars will give up in no time under proper army usage!
Plus why would they just gift 3 cars? Atleast 10-15 should've been gifted to make it look reasonable.

[Sk8r]

They're just riding the pseudo patriotism wave ridden by many manufacturers in the recent past in India. However, they could have done a better job at making it not so obvious by providing a handful of cars of the same model.

[JediKnight]

Hope they gave the manual versions. The Triber AMT Is known to give trouble climbing steep slopes.

[Mandeep0172]

I'm a Triber owner and haven't had any problems with 5 years of ownership. It will do good duty for the army. Not all things in the army need rugged vehicles. They also need people movers too.

Triber and Kiger will be excellent in this domain. For the Kwid it's a workhorse too like the alto.
They should have given automatic versions of the vehicles instead of manual ones

[A777R]

Well I understand the cynicism of people here but I wish all manufacturers did this even if it is just for publicity.

First of all these are brand new vehicles which will most likely be used by the senior officials of the unit as personal vehicles which is absolutely fine because otherwise they would have spent several lakhs of taxpayer money on acquiring those vehicles.

Second, in rural areas the army folks and other senior officials command a lot of respect, so they are the true influencers. This could very well have been an attempt by the local dealer(s) to make sure that people see the army officials drive a Renault and then aspire for it.

Lastly, Renault will probably classify these cars as a CSR expense, and I’m pleased to see the CSR funds being used to directly deliver a practical and valuable product to the Indian Army. It’s great that the funds aren’t being funneled through a nonprofit route, which can often be wasteful and less likely to benefit the army directly.

Now hoping that Jeep gifts a Wrangler and Nissan gifts an X-trail to the different units of the Indian Army.

There are truly no losers in this transaction.

[chaotic]

Just like A777R, don't get the cynicism!

This is just regular business! The Indian Army (as well as other Defense establishments) are large bulk customers, all that Renault is doing here is provide them their full portfolio for long term evaluation.

The Army gets a no strings attached opportunity to evaluate vehicles, Renault gets some PR, Taxpayer's don't get burdened any further and the end result is probably a better-informed decision!

[Miel]

All said and done and well-intentioned, at the end of the day, I sincerely hope that Renault now won't have large posters in their dealerships citing this and stating like it was earned:
"Proudly Serving Indian Army, 14 Corps, Northern Command" !!




Reading this gesture's headline at first glance, made me think a fleet of Renault cars in military camouflage and tough all-terrain tyres, serving the Northern Command officers in rugged style. Something kinda like this.




Instead, I see three normal cars. Yes - 3! Parked nonchalantly in the background same as they were a few hours ago at some corner of the yard. So, then my mind goes:

"3 cars? A Kwid? Maybe for covert ops? Hey, if so, why let everyone know???"

Now, purely for lighthearted reading , the following is how I imagined the whole gesture getting planned inside some meeting room at Renault. Again, strictly just-for-laughs!


"We have 25 lakhs unused in our budget"

"For CSR or Marketing?"

"Both!"

(silence)

"Well... we have cars sitting in the inventory, gatherin..."

"Brilliant! We are done here."

[Vikash Kumawat]

Oh!! Our army have got new Uniform, similar to the US army. Its now more light weight, easy to maintain, easy to dry, breathable and designed to wear in different terrains

[Asish_VK]

Disclaimer : No a Renault fanboy

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

Pure publicity related activity. The Indian Army has no use for any of these models. Nevertheless a feel good gesture!

I beg to differ. There is no rule that all Indian army vehicle needs to be of any particular class (like rough & tough 4x4 vehicles).
These cars can be used to transport army guys / civilians in small towns, within army camps etc.

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

Precisely why I call this a publicity related exercise. Why does this article need to have specifications of the individual models!?

Completely agreed. It is a public stunt for sure.

Originally Posted by theAutomaniac

Lol why would the army need such small cars? These cars will give up in no time under proper army usage!

Again as I said above, There is no rule that all Indian army vehicle needs to be of any particular class. Their use cases varies s per their area of operation right?

Originally Posted by Sk8r

They're just riding the pseudo patriotism wave ridden by many manufacturers in the recent past in India. However, they could have done a better job at making it not so obvious by providing a handful of cars of the same model.

Originally Posted by theAutomaniac

Plus why would they just gift 3 cars? Atleast 10-15 should've been gifted to make it look reasonable.

Yes, it may look nice with large numbers, but again there are no minimum requirement for gifting!

[Newtown]

This is what I call a free validation testing exercise. I real positive move any way one looks at it.

[Ghibli]

Originally Posted by TusharK

The Kwid, Kiger, and Triber represent Renault’s dedication to quality, safety, and the spirit of Make in India.

Keeping aside the discussion about publicity stunt and justification, How does Kwid represent safety, If I may ask?

[tud]

Not to forget, the Govt of India has spent big bucks with Renault to bring the Sherpa. The Sherpa is deployed with units like BSF and CISF.

As per the Team BHP report, it is gifted to 14 Corps, Northern Command. Everybody knows where they are deployed and these cars are a joke in that region. I highly doubt the service support available as well.

It does not save tax payers in any way, army folks will still have to go for low maintenance and durable vehicles. This is purely a Renault CSR stunt, and gives their leadership folks a photo-op and a story to tell at parties about going to the border to meet the Indian army.