Mauritius has become the first international market for the game-changing hatchback after the first lot was shipped to the island country last month from Chennai port.
Our sister publication Autocar Professional had reported in February that the exports of the Kwid would start from SAARC countries, starting with Sri Lanka. Though the carmaker has shipped some units to Sri Lanka, full-fledged exports have started from Mauritius, according to export data records.
A total of 37 cars were shipped to Mauritius on February 5. The low volumes were likely to be a trend for Kwid’s exports as even Sumit Sawhney, CEO and MD, Renault India, had explained that the company was initially looking to seed the Kwid into foreign markets and would ramp up volumes later.
“The way I see SAARC is today, it is an opportunity and tomorrow, will be volumes,” he had said on the sidelines of the 'Make in India' week held at Mumbai in February. Additionally, the large pent-up domestic demand for the Kwid would also make it difficult to ramp up export volumes at the moment.
Based on the CMF-A platform and developed by the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the Kwid has received a tremendous response from Indian customers and there is a waiting of four-six months on the car at present. Given the overwhelming response, Renault India is set to ramp up production to 10,000 units this month and bring down the current waiting period by almost 35-40 percent.
Apart from the SAARC region, Renault India would also be exporting the Kwid to Brazil, Africa and other parts of Latin America through the CKD route.
Shourya Harwani