Renault has just revealed their KWID crossover, designed to deliver a jacked-up city slicker experience on a very tight budget. In India, where Renault aims to start selling the KWID, prices range from US$4700 to US$6275. The platform it rides on, the CMF-A, was co-developed with Nissan and despite its small dimensions (3.68m long X 1.5m wide), it’s still got height on its side. And that’s where the ‘crossover’ element comes in.
Ground clearance stands at 18 cm and dark plastic body cladding seals the bottom half of the car to give it that faux off-roader look. We can’t blame Renault for going for it though, crossovers and soft-roader SUVs are all the rage nowadays. It’s also great that the interior looks great and is functional. Not only does it have modern styling, it comes with a modern 7” touchscreen media unit and a digital instrument cluster.
The powertrain specification does reveal the source of the KWID’s low price point though. Get this; it comes with an 800cc petrol engine and a 5-speed manual. Great for fuel economy as it may be, having such a small displacement could make this A-segmenter a strict city-use only vehicle.
Renault have plans to bring the KWID to a more international audience though, so we might see a Myvi killer heading our way.
