Since the 1950s, concept cars have been ways that car manufacturers have showcased their ideas, talents and creativity about a new model of car, new styling and new technology.

They’re typically shown with great fanfare at motor shows to gauge media and public reaction to new or radical designs that may or may not make it into mass production.

Here’s one from French carmaker Renault that certainly showcases some terrific – perhaps radical – thinking about new technology, capturing the attention of the mainstream media over the past week.

This is the Renault Kwid, a crossover vehicle that Renault presented at the Auto Expo 2014 in New Delhi, India, aimed primarily at the Indian market.

What makes it especially interesting – indeed, it’s what has largely driven the close media attention this past week – isn’t so much its design and styling, but more to do with a little gadget that might come with the vehicle.

Most media reports call the gadget a drone. More accurately, it’s a quadcopter. Check out the video.

Says Renault in its press release:

[…] Taking off from the rotating rear portion of the KWID CONCEPT’s roof, the Flying Companion can be operated in one of two modes – the automatic mode using a pre-programmed flying sequence and GPS location as well as the manual mode, which enables the companion to be controlled using a tablet inside the vehicle. The Flying Companion can be used for a variety of purposes, including scouting traffic, taking landscape pictures and detecting obstacles on the road ahead.

Much of the media reporting I’ve seen talks mainly about the quadcopter as a means to spot traffic jams. My first thought was how handy it would be to spot where to park your Kwid in crowded cities!

The Renault Kwid also represents a pragmatic international view of car design and car use, as another video Renault posted to YouTube shows with interviews with some in Renault’s design team comprising employees from around the world with their views shaped and influenced by their cultures and outlooks.

Says Renault:

Renault Designers around the world cooperated to conceive a vehicle made for local markets and designed to meet the latters’ needs. The interior of the vehicle was designed by François Grenier (Technocentre Design, France) based on original drawings by Mishu Batra (Renault Design India) and the exterior by Anton Shamenkov (of Russian origins, Technocentre Design, France) based on original drawings by Jean Semeriva (Studio Design Brazil). The colors and materials of the vehicle were worked upon by Neha Lad (Indian trainee, Technocentre Design) and developed by Chie Yanagisawa (Japanese designer, Technocentre Design). Axel Breun (Technocentre Design) was the overall Project Manager.

As a concept, the vehicle is pretty neat. It also comes with much more technology innovation including some serious eco-credentials.

I could see this idea of a crossover + quadcopter in action, although that view is more of an emotional desire than a practical perspective.

Will it make it to actual production ? Time will tell. But it’s imaginative.