“Watching a soccer match is one thing. And playing it is another thing. We are on the ground now, and running in India today,” Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO, Group Renault said during the unveiling of Kwid — a product of the Renault-Nissan alliance platform (Common Module Family-Affordable or CMF-A).
Commenting on the launch, Mr. Ghosn spoke passionately on his admiration for frugal engineering and the talent in India. “Frugal engineering is not just the buzz word. We have done it here. We have put our money behind our idea. And, the result is out in terms of the product we have unveiled today,’ he said.
“It [Kwid] is our latest belief emanating from frugal engineering in India,’’ he added. The success of Kwid, a compact car with a dynamic profile and SUV (sports utility vehicle) look tailored to its dimension, he reckoned, would definitely showcase the capability of the Indian engineering talent to design a global standard product.
The Renault-Nissan alliance was doing a unique thing in India in terms of marrying the engineering skills of France and Japan and making people work together, he said. “We needed a fusion …get the experience and knowledge of people from different parts of the world and combine them with the creativity of the Indians… to develop a platform,’’ he said.
“The car has to have the gene from here [India]’’.
How could the new product – an 800 cc one, at that — be SUV-inspired? Mr. Ghosn had a ready-made answer. Cross-over was the biggest and growing segment in countries such as the U.S. and China, he said. “People want to give this cross-over feeling to everything,’’ he added. The SUV-inspired design and high ground clearance gave it a cross-over look, he said.
He also said India was a ‘great test’ in terms of competition. “We can get a substantial market share with this car. The appetite for this car would grow in terms of its sales in India. If we sell it well in India, it can go to any market in the world,’’ he added.
