Chennai, March 4 (IANS) India will be the first market for French automobile maker Renault to launch its global small car (price below Rs.4 lakh) this year, said a top official of the group's Indian subsidiary.
"India will potentially be the first market in the world where our global small car would be launched," Sumit Sawhney, country CEO and managing director, Renault India told reporters here late Tuesday.
He said the small car will be priced well below the Rs.400,000 (not the Bata footwear like price of Rs.3.99 lakh) and would also be sub-four metres to enjoy the lower excise rate.
Renault India will also be launching seven seater Lodgy, a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), soon as a part of its strategy to gain five percent market share in India.
Sawhney ruled out hiring a celebrity as the brand ambassador for Renault models at this point of time.
He said the focus is on expanding the sales and service network to 205 units from the current 157 outlets.
Queried about the cars made by Asian companies - Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota, Honda - ruling the Indian roads while the European and American parentage brands being insignificant players, he said Renault India will prove that theory wrong.
According to him for a product to succeed, right price, right product and right timing are important.
"The right price of the car is determined by the level of localisation. Our models will have high levels of local content which would address the pricing issue," Sawhney said.
According to him, Renault customises its products for Indian conditions and cited the 37 changes it made in Duster before launching the car in India.
He said Renault India is not looking at launching cars with automatic transmission as the fuel consumption is around 15 percent more in such models.
On the other hand, the company is evaluating the possibilities of launching cars with automated transmission (clutch less manual gear change) technology.
Ruling any more cross badging of models between Renault and Nissan, he said the French company has lined up more models for the Indian market in the coming years.
With the launch of two new models, Renault India hopes to more than double its sales numbers this year as compared to around 49,000 units sold in 2014.
He said around 80 percent of last year's sales were accounted by Duster model.
"In 2015 the percentage share of Duster would come down to around 35 percent following the launch of two new models," Sawhney said.
On Renault's plans for used car business in India, he said it would be launched during the second quarter of 2015 as a team is working on it.
Renault India models are rolled out of around Rs.5,000-crore Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt. Ltd.'s plant near here.
The plant, a joint venture between Renault and Nissan Motor Company, rolls out Renault and Nissan branded cars has a total capacity of 480,000 units per year.
Know how long will Deepak Chahar be fit, big update on Washington Sundar's injury too
India's T20 specialist pacer Deepak Chahar will take some more time to fully recover from a hamstring injury. It is being told that Deepak Chahar will be fully fit in the next four to five weeks and
Corona cases cross 1 lakh 12 thousand in the country, 5,609 new cases and 132 deaths in 24 hours, know top 10 states
There has been a steady increase in cases of corona virus in India and today a big surge of corona has come to the fore for the second consecutive day. There have been 5,609 new cases of corona virus
China Taiwan Conflict: President of Taiwan meets US Governor, says - America is our main ally
The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has returned after a successful visit to Taiwan, ignoring all warnings from China. She had arrived in Taipei earlier this month. About
Shraddha Murder Case: Aftab's polygraph test lasted for 8 hours, health deteriorated again during the interrogation
The help of psychologists is also being taken in the investigation of the Shraddha Walker murder case of a Mumbai girl. Under this, Aftab Poonawalla, who murdered live-in partner Shraddha Walker and
COP 27: Humanity groaning from the climate crisis, floods in Pakistan, and severe heat in Europe
The 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-27) is to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from November 6 to 18. Its purpose is to draw attention to climate disasters and to promote efforts
IND vs ENG: Jonny Bairstow's bat did not work against India, could not score a single half-century in eight innings
Jonny Bairstow could not perform anything special in the ongoing five-match Test series between India and England. He has not played a single half-century in the four Test matches played so far. Apart
President, PM congratulate Indian cricket team
New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday congratulated the Indian cricket team for their eight-wicket victory against Ireland in a World
Unemployment: 'Shortage of jobs' in cities more than in villages, report claims - the unemployment rate was 8% in November
The unemployment rate in India reached the highest level of 8 percent in the last three months in November. This was stated in the report released on Thursday by the Center for Monitoring India (CMI).
Modi condoles France air crash victims
New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the air crash in France on Tuesday that is feared to have killed the 150 people on board.Offering condolences to the
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 Box Office Collection: Karthik Aryan's film crossed 100 crores, earned so much in 1 week
Kartik Aaryan's 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2' has earned a record break in the first week itself. This horror-comedy by Anees Bazmee has joined the club of 100 crores. Yes, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has raised new hope