Renault to carve out sub-segments to expand footprint in Indian market
Economic Times, 20 February '20
French car maker Renault India, which has managed to grab over 10% share in the mass market space where Maruti Suzuki is a dominant player, is set to pose further challenge to the maker of Alto and Wagon R with an entry-level SUV, sedan and an EV in the coming 12-24 months.
Having disrupted the market with an entry-level MPV Triber at an aggressive price of Rs. 490,000-660,000 (US$ 6,800-9,200), Renault is set to bring in a small SUV and a sedan with disruptive prices in the similar range, say people in the know.
In a recent interview with a daily, Fabrice Cambolive, chairman of Africa, Middle East and India-Pacific Region, Groupe Renault, declined to share the specifics but said that the company would continue to create sub-segments in the Indian mass market space.
"We will continue to innovate. One of our secret weapons will come in a segment which does not exist now. What is it, I can't share that now. We are betting on sub-segments or body variants which do not exist now, which is what we did with Triber," added Cambolive.
The SUV, based on CMF-A or Common Module Family A vehicle architecture, (internally referred to as HBC) should hit the market during the 2020 festival season (September-November). The company is hoping to add 50,000 units per annum to its annual sales of 100,000 units.
The SUV may be positioned between Mahindra's KUV 100 and Maruti's Vitara Brezza.
This will be followed by a Kwid-EV called XBA-EV, which will be heavily localised and a sedan codenamed LBA which may be ready by Auto Expo 2022. The sedan may undercut Maruti's Dzire significantly, added people in the know.
For Renault, India broke into top 10 markets in 2019 and its focus on mass market has paid dividends. The company has already set itself a target of doubling the volumes to 200,000 units per annum in the coming couple of years.
The associate director of a research firm says Renault has been able to create a positive opinion for itself in the eyes of Indian buyers with frugal innovation and rightly utilizing skills of Indian engineers.
