[MaheshY1]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Their chrome package might just become the top-selling accessory :

One of the few cars with a tastefully done chrome treatment.

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

With such a competent small car from Renault, where does that leave the Go & the Datsun brand? We've always disagreed with the idea of a 3rd brand from the Renault-Nissan combine. Datsun was supposed to be the 'cheap' brand and Renault the 'premium'. Renault now goes on to launch a car at a lower price than Datsun!

Well, fantastic review, first of all. Much awaited. And boy it came with the usual 'detail package' as standard!

Anyways, contrary to what you think as said above, I would say that Renault have played it really smart with the branding here. Remember, they always wanted the Kwid to appeal to the SUV-aspiring clan. And with the Renault branding, they have achieved direct sibling connection to the massively popular Duster here. So they already have the perception advantage.

Further, at this end of the market, the trust factor and overall impression of a brand play a huge role in the purchase of a car. And in fact that's eactly why Maruti keeps selling Altos by the truckloads on and on.
Now Renault, due to solid reliable cars like the Duster (and in part even the Logan early on) have managed to create a better impression of themselves in public, than relatively unknown quantities that are Nissan and Datsun. Also the sheer number of Dusters on the road means that more people know Renault than they do Nissan. So they are definitely more likely to buy a Renault badged car. In fact, many people don't even consider Nissan while looking for a car, as they're just so unknown.
Right now, the only gripe that anyone could have is that 'there's no dealer yet nearby'. But the sheer range of talents of the Kwid can take care of that. Rather, it would be the Kwid which would actually bring more Renault dealers closer to the people in the future.

As for Datsun, the brand is for 'cheap' cars as you rightly said. But by the term 'cheap', I'd say it is more of a sub-brand to hurl sub-standard cars like the Go+ at us, without affecting the far bigger Renault-Nissan's brand value too much. The Kwid is not a 'cheap' car in that sense. If the Go experiment were to fail, they could as easily scrap it and it would be soon forgotten. But this car is a huge part of a big plan of Renault-Nissan, and by the looks of it is here to stay. Renault won't be so foolish as to risk this car with such a brand.

And anyway, as things stand, the Go twins have so far managed to garner only the wrong kind of publicity, mainly due to the safety rating and the horrible third row in the Go+. And branding such a potential success as a Datsun would've meant people would have suddenly gotten apprehensive and would have begun asking questions of the car, which admittedly is not perfect to start with. Certainly, our response won't have been near as positive or forgiving to a Datsun Kwid as it is to the Renault Kwid.

And, as the response is so overwhelmingly positive, it only means that (at least) one big brand of the Alliance group is becoming a really household name in India, which would be really good news to Renault. Trust of A-Segment buyers is invaluable for a company here. Maruti is still riding sky high due to the trust and loyalty of countless 800 or Alto buyers.

So, I feel Renault have actually managed to kill multiple birds in a single Kwid-sized stone here, and I'm sure the Kwid, even in our streets filled with Crossovers and SUV's; akin to a brave little pug among a pack of bulldogs, would manage to hold onto its own.

[mayankverma]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

There isn't any carpeting here. The visible bare metal along with the strut cover looks ugly:

This cap over the suspension mounting is not present in demo cars at the showrooms . I suppose this will not make it to other production cars as well. This cap should be put in.

[fiat_tarun]

Great review. Renault have brilliantly packaged this car .

I saw one on the road the other day and it definitely looks like it's from a segment above. It's success depends on how Renault handles the service.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The oil pan is made of plastic! The grid design should deflect small stones. Sure, it is >180 mm above the ground, but we were still worried about damage when we drove over some stones on the road. Plastic isn't as strong as metal:

Not necessarily. Most cars use Aluminium or sheet metal oil pans. Plastic can be engineered to be as strong or even stronger depending on the requirement. From the picture I see a lot of ribbing, which should allow it to withstand small hits and it probably is stronger than a sheet metal oil pan.

[arunphilip]

Thank you for the nicely detailed review - it made for excellent reading. I wish Renault well with this car, and hope they meet with good success. I like the approach they've taken - rather than meekly try to undercut the Alto, they've taken a brave design decision and executed on it.

While rear entry/egress is compromised, they've compensated for this with the phenomenal boot! Buyers who have a nuclear family might appreciate this choice particularly for their first car - the kids won't complain, and it'll get families on the move. Families that try to transport elders in this might struggle, though, particularly with the raised door sill.

While it may take time to start significantly denting the Alto's sales numbers, I think this car has the potential to kill the already stuttering Eon. Stick an AMT into it, and the Nano starts looking under threat too.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The oil pan is made of plastic! The grid design should deflect small stones. we were still worried about damage when we drove over some stones on the road. Plastic isn't as strong as metal

More importantly, metal dents first, plastic always cracks. And a cracked sump is no fun at all. I hope they start offering a metal shield that can be fitted in front of and below the sump (or we come up with a jugaad).

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The Kwid *might* get alternative fuel versions like CNG or LPG based on demand.

Alternative fuels will be quite good for the target segment. Given the humongous boot, the additional plumbing will still leave quite a reasonable amount of space.

[S2!!!]

Originally Posted by BaluJ

One major miss would be the tacho. People used to shifting gears based on the RPM level will have to adjust the driving style by quite a bit. I dont think that minuscule shift indicator would help a lot - also that is tuned for FE i believe.

Tacho would've been great to have but then I'm not too sure how many users would actually use or care about it (going by the norm in this segment)? On the other hand, it's really thoughtful to provide a gearshift indicator, especially helping drivers to extract maximum fuel economy. Also, newbie drivers / first time car owners will love the fact that the car is helping them learn by indicating up / downshifts.

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

The one part I appreciate the most is the relative lack of chrome on the car. As a chrome-hater, it appeals to me! For chrome lovers, there is no dearth of additional chrome bling bling available as after market accessories to apply wherever they want, its a brilliant win-win situation!

True. More than that, I think the Marketing team at Renault have cleverly introduced the personalization factor here. With a host of basic (& some unique) accessories on sale, the company is making sure that buyers end up purchasing all their accessories from the Renault dealership itself and not at the local accessory store.

What's the point of having leather in non-contact areas and call it a leather steering wheel? Instead of the top quarter, I'd have appreciated if the leather covered the thumb contour areas if not the whole wheel.

Probably for those who hold the steering at 12 o clock position (remember Ranbir Kapoor driving this way in one of the Kwid commercials).

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Kwid Deliveries begin. Average waiting period of 3 months

Yup, visited a dealership and 3 months was the answer that I got.

Originally Posted by mukul32

Anyways, contrary to what you think as said above, I would say that Renault have played it really smart with the branding here. Remember, they always wanted the Kwid to appeal to the SUV-aspiring clan. And with the Renault branding, they have achieved direct sibling connection to the massively popular Duster here. So they already have the perception advantage...

Ageed

Originally Posted by mukul32

Right now, the only gripe that anyone could have is that 'there's no dealer yet nearby'. But the sheer range of talents of the Kwid can take care of that. Rather, it would be the Kwid which would actually bring more Renault dealers closer to the people in the future.

I was just discussing this with a few friends the other day. Renault have introduced the concept of a virtual showroom (as mentioned in the review). Sure, it doesn't compensate for the touch-and-feel that a brick & mortar showroom offers but it does eliminate the place barrier to a great extent; all this, while having a representative at the other end (video) explaining the features and answering your doubts, so that personal connection is still there. It can be of great help to someone who will have to travel XX kms to a far-off dealership to check out the car. Obviously, for those who know about Team-BHP wouldn't need the virtual showroom though but for the rest, it's actually a very useful concept.

Originally Posted by mukul32

And anyway, as things stand, the Go twins have so far managed to garner only the wrong kind of publicity, mainly due to the safety rating and the horrible third row in the Go+. And branding such a potential success as a Datsun would've meant people would have suddenly gotten apprehensive and would have begun asking questions of the car, which admittedly is not perfect to start with. Certainly, our response won't have been near as positive or forgiving to a Datsun Kwid as it is to the Renault Kwid.

While in conversation with someone senior at Datsun, all I could gather were that the company was experimenting and that's all it was doing. It was more like "let's try this strategy, if it clicks, it clicks else, we don't have a plan as of now"... On the other hand, you can actually see the effort made by Renault to push the Kwid into the market.

Originally Posted by mayankverma

This cap over the suspension mounting is not present in demo cars at the showrooms . I suppose this will not make it to other production cars as well. This cap should be put in.

Now that you mentioned it, it wasn't available on the test drive car at the dealership either. Check out the picture in the review with the rear seat folded.

[itzvicky201]

Great Review as usual. No other auto reviews in the country go to the depth as team bhp. Fantastic read!

Gone are the days when a entry level buyer's first choice of a car was either an Alto and later Santro. Thankfully, Renault did take cues by analyzing an Indian buyer for his/her notions about paisa vasool logic. Looking back at Tata Nano's launch, when a 6+ feet frame Ratan Tata stepped out of the car, we were amazed with the space offered and appreciated Tata's effort to help us move up from a 2 Wheeler and aspire for a simple city car. The only mistake was in how it was marketed "World's cheapest car".

Hope Renault can up its dealership and service levels atleast to Hyundai's level to sustain in this segment.

Bajaj and other wannabe entry level hatch makers, hope you take a look at Kwid and please us with better or on par car models. . We don't need another auto like car.

[Interstellar]

Very detailed review! Much appreciated!

Someone in the other thread mentioned Renault offering tire upgrades (from the 155 tires to 165 tires) as part of the accessories. For me, 165 or 175 tires would be most welcome. Does anyone have any details on that?

[amit_snk]

Forget about competing with Alto, this car wouldn't be able to match the sales figures of even Hyundai Eon, Reason: ATTITUDE.

I went to take the test drive of this vehicle today (i drive 800, 5 speed for office work so thought i"ll compare both), response of the sales team at dealer was PATHETIC. There was a long queue of people waiting for test drive. I entered the vehicle on my turn, turn the ignition and waited for few seconds just to have a feel of the gears and steering, suddenly a sales person opened the passenger door and said "Try leni hai to lo, nahi to bahar niklo, bahut log wait kar rahe hai"

If this is how they think they can sell there car, forget it man. Regarding the test drive, they were allowing to drive the vehicle for just 2 Kms and after every test drive one person was noting down the meter reading. I had two people of the staff sitting with me and forget about explaining anything about the car, one of them was playing music on his cellphone (i politely asked him to shut that thing off, and gave them a little lecture on etiquettes).

I have a old friend who works in the sales team at the dealership and told him about this to which his answer was that there bosses at Renault have told them to not worry about Kwid, it will sell by itself and to only concentrate on other cars.

Problem with Brands like Renault in tier II or III cities is that, most of their dealerships are running on losses so most of the time they have shortage of staff, shortage of spares, shortage of trained mechanics thus they just cannot provide Buying as well as Ownership experience that a Maruti or a Hyundai can provide. People complaining about Tata and Mahindra, for once, please visit Renault, you"ll come out with a changed perception.

Finally, Yes, Guys wonderful review. I read your review in the morning before going and most of things were spot on. But there was one thing which bothered me during my test drive, noise inside the Cabin. I agree this is a 3 Pot Motor, but still it was irritating. Just for comparison, my 15 year old 800 5 speed with 53000 on the ODO can compete with this car in terms of cabin noise. My take: money saved on sound deadening can ruin driving experience. Also test drive vehicle had just 311 Kms on the ODO and already there was a rattling sound coming from the backside while accelerating, on pointing out one executive replied: sir this car has 'chain' system in the engine compared to belt system in the other cars hence the sound.. I politely told him that sound is coming from behind.

[S.MJet]

Excellent review with superb attention to details, rated 5 stars.
In ideal conditions this should be a market leader in the segment, but in Indian market scenario this will be distant dream for Renault. Main drawback being Renault's brand name, lac of distribution network, unknown customer service capabilities & most importantly brand & trust Maruti enjoys. With time Renault can progressively build all this but only time will tell. I wish all the best to this great effort.

[mayankverma]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

Now that you mentioned it, it wasn't available on the test drive car at the dealership either. Check out the picture in the review with the rear seat folded.

Manufacturer stuffing a media car with noise reduction/other trim parts which are not seen in actual deliveries !
Renault surely isn't the only one indulging in this practice, I am sure.

[mustang_shelby]

Wonderful review, as usual. Totally worth the wait.

The review mentions the Renault plant's annual capacity as 4.8 lakhs units. But they seem to be able to produce only about 6,000 Kwid per month, going by the wait time being quoted of 4 months post receiving 25,000 bookings. That translates to about 72,000 units per annum. What are they using the rest of the capacity for ?

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by mustang_shelby

The review mentions the Renault plant's annual capacity as 4.8 lakhs units. But they seem to be able to produce only about 6,000 Kwid per month, going by the wait time being quoted of 4 months post receiving 25,000 bookings. That translates to about 72,000 units per annum. What are they using the rest of the capacity for ?

Exports of Nissan and Renault products from India (they share the manufacturing facilities). Here's some key points I've picked up about Nissan's exports.

• Nissan has exported 5 lakh cars in 5 years of operations
• Nissan is India’s second largest exporter in the passenger car segment
• Nissan India stands in the 2nd position in volume of shipping parts within the Nissan world
• Nissan Micra constitutes 73% of exports from India, Nissan Sunny and Datsun Go are the other two export models. Nissan started the exports of Datsun GO in 2014 to South Africa and Nepal
• Nissan achieves exports milestone in India in record period of five years
• Nissan has been exporting vehicles to various regions including Europe, Middle East, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Africa.
• For Nissan, India is not only a key hub for completely built units but also for parts supply. Nissan exports over 1800 types of manufacturing parts to 34 plants across 24 countries.

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/extern...2#.Vh6HDjbrZaQ [May 2015]

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by amit_snk

Forget about competing with Alto, this car wouldn't be able to match the sales figures of even Hyundai Eon, Reason: ATTITUDE

Many dealers who cannot cope up with the crowd show such attitude. Some even follow the strategy of asking what variant we want and when are we planning to book even before the test drive, so that they can save some energy by not spending much time with a person who gives a response not to their liking.
In other words you can mention you want a car in 6 months time and you are studying which car suits you and you can see their attitude changes. Here is where some maruti dealers score by being so professional and follow up properly at regular intervals.

I agree this is a 3 Pot Motor, but still it was irritating. Just for comparison, my 15 year old 800 5 speed with 53000 on the ODO can compete with this car in terms of cabin noise. My take: money saved on sound deadening can ruin driving experience.

Was it so bad? How is it in comparison to two pot motors such as Nano and Celerio? The review mentions once AC is switched on in idle, the vibrations are too much. Since most customers are going to be stuck in traffic using AC this will be important. Was it felt?

[kashif_baig]

Originally Posted by i_see

I had been to Renault showroom yesterday with our duster ( for one of my umpteen visits to fix even simple things at the service centre). Happened to see the car in the flesh.
Car looks good, probably the best looker in the segment
very spacious too.. over all, all ingredients for success are there

BUT, it is a very big one, what about the pathetic service of renault

Right now even with only Dusters and some Scala/Pulse/Lodgy occasionally , the service centers leave a lot to be desired. Their service is totally incapable of managing the present load, leave alone the load expected if this car sells in even half decent numbers
The way they treat a customer who has paid 16-17 lakhs for a Duster is shockingly ridiculous, they literally take a customer for granted,
No work is ever completed in one visit.
In renault website they write free pick up & drop of cars for lady customers, which the dealership outright refuse to accept!! Also, they never give a bill for pick up & drop charges!! Also even when the car is taken a second time or third for fixing the complaint, they always insist on pick up & drop charges
The less i say about their professionalism & quality of work, the better. Just spend half an hour at any Renault service centre and you will come across multiple people yelling at the service advisors out of sheer frustration.
In my exprience, even when i take a humble alto for service, maruti treats the customer like a king.

If at all Renault needs to click here, they need to stop this high headed attitude and learn from Maruti / Honad/ Hyundai about customer satisfaction. Hell i have had even much better experience from the dreaded Fiat service centres!!

I have decided, for my next purchase, i will buy a well supported inferior product rather than well made product with poor support

Have a feeling after the initial hype, the car will fail & status quo will be maintained as even though i believe the product here is superior than competition, eventually customer service & reach of service centre matters

I kind of agree and disagree to some extent. I think it will sell very well, even with uneven after sales support. After all, the Duster proved to be a big hit when Renault was in worse shape than it is now. That was because of it's USP as being the segment first soft-roader.

Similary, with it's unique design cues, large size and fuel efficiency, the Kwid too will click.

However, after the initial euphoria has subsided, it think it might end up as an ideal car for performing mods (offroad tyres, alloys, performance exhaust, etc).