India-Made Renault Kwid Confirmed For South Africa

8 years, 5 months ago - 7 June 2016, IndianAutosBlog

The India-made Renault Kwid was most recently launched in Sri Lanka. The French automaker’s Indian subsidiary is exploring new export markets for the new mini car, and South Africa is one of them bound to make it to that list.

According to a report from wheels24, Renault South Africa has confirmed that it plans to launch the India-made Kwid in late-2016 or early-2017.

The report says that the Renault Kwid sold in South Africa will be powered by the 0.8-litre SCe three-cylinder petrol engine that produces 54 PS at 5,678 rpm and 72 Nm of torque at 4,386 rpm, possibly mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. There’s no speak of the bigger, more powerful 1.0-litre SCe three-cylinder petrol engine or the automated manual transmission though.

The Renault Kwid is the first car to be based on the A version of the Renault-Nissan Alliance’s CMF (Common Module Family) platform and a very important export model for Renault India. Besides neighboring countries, export plans also include Iran, Russia, Africa and South America. Right-hand drive countries will be the first ones receiving the India-made Kwid. Exports to Kenya, Brazil and SAARC countries will commence later this year.