Post the launch in China, the Renault Kwid Electric will be launched in India as well.
The Government’s ambitious plan of making India an all-electric nation has been taken seriously by almost every carmaker. Suzuki and Toyota joined hands to develop EVs together for the Indian market, while Honda is considering to develop India-specific battery EVs. Mahindra too is working on its EV strategy and come 2018, the KUV100 Electric will be launched in India.
Renault boss recently stated that the electric version of its most selling car (in India), the Kwid, will be launched in India and other markets like Brazil and the Middle East. However, the Kwid Electric will be first launched in China. An excerpt of the interview below:
What is the alliance’s strategy for EVs in China?
In China, we can’t sell the Leaf. Too expensive and too sophisticated. We can’t sell the Renault Fluence. Too expensive. What sells in China? Low-cost electric cars. So we are putting engineers from the alliance to develop a low-cost [Renault] Kwid EV for China. I just test drove the car in China. It will be a very well engineered car at a very low cost.
And once it works in China, there’s no reason you’re not going to export the car to India, to Brazil, to the Middle East.
Renault expects growth of EVs to come mainly from China and other markets like Europe, Japan and the US. There could be surprises from other emerging markets but the company isn’t counting on it and instead will focus on the China, Europe and Japan.
Renault Kwid Electric
– Renault considering the launch of Kwid Electric for India
– Likely to be launched in India by 2022
– EV prototypes of the Kwid are ready for the Chinese market
Source – AutomotiveNews.com