The French and Japanese collaboration between Renault and Nissan has not been as smooth as it was expected. The numbers in respect of sales and demands were quite good initially; however, numbers started declining soon. Both the manufacturers are heavily relying hugely on a few vehicles for leading them out of the red zone. The products are quite good and well-versed with the current requirements. The main reason why both the companies are losing out is due to the stellar competition from the rivals.
Most car manufacturers in India rely strongly on the hatchback segment. As a result, they are able to sell these in large numbers. However, the same is not the case with Nissan and Renault. Micra and Pulse are faring quite poorly. Pulse looks like a remodelled Micra just without the facelift, which was given to Micra last month. That is the main reason why Pulse sold 175 units while Micra reached a number of 812 units.
However, these numbers are not at all up to the mark because the festive season has just passed and this is the best marketing time for automobile manufacturers. September was worse for Pulse with only 54 units being purchased. Hyundai Santa Fe and Skoda Octavia, which are models of CKD route and operate in segments higher than Pulse, have shown a better number.
Renault has hot upon a new strategy to promote Pulse and also the Scala. The price range of these models of the diesel variant has been set according to the prices of petrol models. This will ensure a huge saving for customers, where they will be able to get diesel cars at the price of petrol models. This might work as a great move as people are slowly becoming inclined towards petrol models. This is a direct consequence of the deregulation of diesel prices, which has reduced the gap between petrol and diesel cars. Let us see whether Pulse is able to make up for the lost ground banking on this technique.
