Renault India launched the Kwid hatchback in the country late last year. Following the success of the model, the French automobile manufacturer showcased two upcoming versions of the model, the Kwid with a 1.0 litre engine and a Kwid with an automatic transmission. The former was taken into consideration since a handful of customers asked the company for a more powerful version of the hatch.
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In the month of March, a test mule of the 1.0L Sce engine Kwid was spotted testing on public roads hinting at an imminent launch. A few days ago, the Indian arm of the French manufacturer opened bookings for the 1.0 litre engine equipped Kwid ahead of an impending launch. Now, as you read this article, our correspondent Gaurav Masurekar is driving the Kwid 1.0L ahead of its launch that is scheduled to take place on 22nd August.
This new 1.0L SCe motor on the Kwid is likely to produce an output of 67 hp as compared to 54 hp on the current 0.8 litre engine. Transmission duties will be taken care of by the conventional five speed manual transmission. Renault has not revealed any details regarding the AMT variant and it is hence safe to assume that the automatic variant of the hatchback will be arriving later during the model’s life-cycle.
Also read: Rendered: Renault Kwid based compact sedan said to be in the works
Currently powering the Kwid is a 799cc three cylinder DOHC engine. This motor is capable of producing a power output of 54 hp at 5678 rpm while the peak torque of 72 Nm comes up at 4386 rpm. Power is sent to the wheels via a five speed manual transmission. The Kiwd 1.0L, once launched next week, will take on models such as the Hyundai Eon, Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 and the Tata Tiago.
Following is an image gallery of the Renault Kwid 1.0L:
