Renault Teases Kwid AMT

Want an affordable automatic? Hold on for a wee bit longer. Renault has teased the AMT avatar of its best-seller, the Kwid. The image shared on the French manufacturer's social channels show the rotary gear selector. The automated manual transmission will be based on the existing 5-speed gearbox that the Kwid twins sport. As evident from the picture, there won't be a manual mode for the gearbox, unlike its arch rival - the Alto K10 AGS. 

The AMT is likely to be offered for both engine options - the 0.8SCe as well as the 1.0SCe, that develop 54PS and 68PS respectively. Expect efficiency figures to remain more or less unchanged, considering AMTs are widely considered to be just as efficient as their manual counterparts. 

Other than the gearbox, we expect the baby Renault to remain unchanged in every manner. It will feature the same baby SUV looks, and be equipped with goodies such as the touchscreen infotainment, front power windows and a digital speedometer. That said, we do wish Renault add ABS to the feature list this time round. 

It is plausible that Renault will offer the two-pedal setup in the top-spec RXT and RXT (O) trims only. Notably, the manufacturer followed the same strategy when introducing the 1.0-litre engine, citing the fact that the fully-loaded variants form a bulk of the demand. The AMT will add close to half a lakh to the price of the Kwid. Expect prices to start between Rs 4.0 lakh and Rs 4.5 lakh (ex-showroom).