Renault, the French car maker taking a signal from its alliance partner Nissan, which is reviving its Datsun brand, is planning to start a similar project for producing an entry level car in the near future. As per Renault, India will be the first market for such a car, which will compete with Hyundai Eon, Maruti Alto k10 and Chevrolet Spark. Carlos Tavares, chief operating officer, Renault, said, “We are the most successful car maker globally in entry-level cars as our design to cost is lowest and this is linked to the Indian preference for frugality.” He further added, “We are trying to evaluate on an entry-level strategy for emerging markets and we are eager to kick off with India.”
Gerard Detourbet, who is known as the master strategist on frugal engineering has been appointed by the French car maker as the managing director of the alliance to manufacture a small low cost car. He will be heading the small car, which will be developed by Renault sharing a platform with Nissan. The alliance currently offers the Pulse and Micra in India, which are cheapest cars from its portfolio developed jointly on V platform. The responsibility of Detourbet will be to make cars cheaper and smaller than the Pulse and Micra.
Renault, by launching this car will transform its image from a European car maker to a global one, a field where Nissan has already set up its strong foothold. In 2011, Nissan sold Rs. 46.7 lacs cars whereas Renault managed to sell only 27.2 lacs units. Tavares said, “We continue to be strong in Europe and are the second-largest selling brand after VW and ahead of Ford but we are growing very fast in overseas markets.” He further added, “By next year, more than half of our cars would be made outside of Europe and within the next 10 years, I expect Europe to contribute to less than 40% of our overall sales.”
Before the festive season, a compact SUV Duster will be launched by Renault in 2012. A sedan based on Nissan’s Sunny will follow the new SUV. Based on the entry-level small car of Detourbet, the further growth of the company beyond 2015 will depend.
