Renault Kwid: If comes to Malaysia, will it affect the local A-Segment market?

Kuala Lumpur: Renault Kwid is a recent excitement in the Indian auto market. The Kwid is an entry level compact, inexpensive A-segment crossover which has been targeted at the hyper-competitive Indian market. Although Renault is also planning to sell it as a global car. But the price at which this car will be launched in the Indian Market is surprising, Renault Kwid boasts a price tag of just 3 to 4 Lakh Indian rupees which is roughly around RM17k-23k.

If the car comes to Malaysia at the similar price and higher levels of kit and safety, then this attractive A-segment crossover will surely challenge the massive existence of Proton Iriz and Perodua Myvi. So far Proton and Perodua both enjoy the monopoly of being the cheapest car providers in Malaysia. Thus, Renault Kwid will proffer another alternate to the Malaysian A-Segment car buyers. The global giants like Toyota and Honda enjoy the heavy market share in the upper-entry-level segment, but in the lower segment there are not any other options. Renault Kwid will be widely accepted in the Malaysian market as an alternate with cheaper prices and next gen features.

The added advantage to Renault Kwid is, despite being so cheap, it has SUV-inspired styling that distinguishes itself from other cars in the A-segment market. There are also a number of features like seven-inch touchscreen with navigation and Bluetooth connectivity, that aren’t available at this price in Proton Iriz or Perodua Myvi.

Proton Iriz and Perodua Myvi are tremendously successful car in the country, however, these are hardly recognised globally in same greatness and prestige. Whereas, Renault is a global brand with satisfied and trustworthy buyers all around the world. Hence, this will also attract the A-segment buyers towards Renault Kwid, which will inadvertently decrease the sales of Myvi and Iriz.

Although, still there is a catch to be considered, Kwid is the first car to be based on a new CMF-A platform – part of the Alliance’s Common Module Family (CMF) which is considerably most cost-effective platform. But the CMF-A architecture was developed with India in mind, allowing the Kwid to feature a 97% localisation rate in the country. Thus, the car will not be exported from India to Malaysia on this cost-reducing platform. So, in Malaysia the car will be targeted to produced according to the regional standards because a high localization rate in every market is a key element in maximising the efficiency of CMF-A.

The Renault Kwid will squares off a tough competition against the Hyundai Eon and the Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 in India, but over here the car might challenge the existence of Perodua Myvi and the Proton Iriz considering its price.

Well, it is all upon the buyers, what do they think before buying a car? It will be either a conventional national B-segment hatch or French conglomerates stamped crossover.