It’s Kwid vs. Alto in the Indian small car segment

Renault, the French car maker, is soaring high with the strong response that its latest release Kwid is getting. With pumping confidence, the car maker is all set to take the battle further by competing with market leader Maruti Suzuki.

To gain a stronger position, Renault would soon be launching the 1-litre and automated manual transmission (AMT) versions of Kwid. The launch is expected to happen at auto show in February.

Kwid, which was launched just before the beginning of the Indian festival season, carries a 799cc engine and is priced at an aggressive price of Rs 2.57 to Rs 3.53 lakh. Kwid has registered more than 80,000 bookings so far, and in 2016, the company expects to double its total sales to more than 100,000 vehicles, more so because of the launch of the new versions.

Kwid’s to-be launched 1-litre and the clutch-less AMT versions will be in competition with Maruti's Alto K10 and K10 AMT, which are priced at Rs 3.2-3.72 lakh and about Rs 4 lakh, respectively.

As of now, Alto is the best-selling passenger car in India, and has recorded sales of 175,984 units between April and November 2015. Of these, 60,000-80,000 units were of the 998cc (or 1-litre) K10 variants.

Image source