Renault rides with Iron Man and Captain America

Even as movie buffs around the world gear up for yet another blockbuster from Marvel Studios – Avengers: Infinity Wars – brands have started monetizing on the franchise. Of late, French multinational automobile manufacturer Renault has associated with Disney India to launch KWID Super Hero Edition. Sumit Sawhney, Country CEO and Managing Director, Renault India Operations, believes that this association has instigated a new chapter of brand licensing in India.  

Could you brief us about this association with Disney?

Renault KWID is one of the top 10 cars in India and the biggest ‘Make in India’ story so far. It is a 98 per cent indigenously built car. Now we have associated with two superheroes, Iron Man and Captain America, from Marvel Studios. The whole idea behind this association was to offer something different to our consumers and that too with an association of two strong brands. The first one is KWID Iron Man edition and the other is KWID Captain America edition.

What new are you offering through this KWID superhero edition?

Renault has got two design centers in India and we worked together with the Marvel design team to create the Iron Man and Captain America versions of KWID. The touch, the design elements and branding of these superheroes have been implemented on both the interiors as well as the exteriors of the KWID. These are special editions created in very limited numbers. We have also brought in an innovation which is in terms of booking. Even though the cars will be delivered to consumers in the month of April alongside the release of the ‘Avengers’ movie, consumers can book the cars exclusively on Amazon at a booking price of Rs 9,999. In terms of the cost to customers, the superhero edition KWID is priced at merely Rs 29,900 above the usual KWID.

What is the number of KWID superhero edition that you would be launching under this association?

KWID ranks among the top 10 cars in the country. Whenever you do these kinds of associations, you cannot be open house. All I could tell you is that there are very limited numbers and that’s why we have put them on a ‘first come first serve’ basis. That’s one of the reasons why we have roped in Amazon for this association.

What’s next in the pipeline?

It all started with a television commercial on KWID in Brazil that featured Hulk. After that we decided to do something on the cars. This is the first ever time in India and that too with Marvel superheroes. So I think it is too soon to say something about future plans. Because these two are very strong global brands, it took us almost a year to launch these versions because we had to ensure that the brand values and guidelines for both Renault and Marvel were well followed. From the market projection point of view we clearly see ourselves continuing with KWID what we saw in 2016 and 2017 in this year too.