Renault’s strategic shift in India
By Aditi Shah and Gilles Guillaume
Benefits of trade agreements
CHENNAI/PARIS, Jan 27 (Reuters) – India has become a top priority for Renault due to market growth potential and increasing accessibility for European Union companies after their trade deal, the French carmaker’s growth director said on Tuesday.
Product Portfolio Updates
Renault is returning to India with a new strategy as it looks to the world’s third-largest auto market for growth outside Europe.
Introduction to hybrid technology
The renewed interest coincides with a trade deal between India and the EU that will see a significant reduction in import duties on cars from Europe, opening up the South Asian market to European automakers.
“India may not have been a priority over the last four years, but it will become one thanks to this rapprochement strategy, the strength of our populations there and the growth potential of the market,” Fabrice Cambolive told Reuters.
On Monday, the automaker laid out its ambition in India at an event in the southern city of Chennai, where it relaunched its most popular brand in the country: the Duster SUV. But it faces tough competition with local brands Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra which are expanding their portfolio with new SUVs with remarkable designs and latest technologies.
“You’re not the main player but you want to be kind of a brilliant underdog. We’re somewhere on the way back and we want to be a big underdog,” Cambolive said.
What will help Renault stand out is its popular hybrid car technology, which it will bring to India, and its work with Google to provide in-car connectivity, which Cambolive hopes to develop in India with the company’s local engineering talent.
Cambolive said Renault had also learned from past mistakes of not refreshing and updating its product portfolio, which cost the company lost sales and market share. He said the company was already developing two additional products for India with more to come by 2030.
“If we just launched the Duster and nothing happens in the next four years, it’s not a coherent strategy. We will come back with other models soon,” he said, adding that the mid-size and compact SUV segments would remain “very hot” for the future.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah in Chennai and Gilles Guillaume in Paris; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Alison Williams)
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