Renault India plans 5 new launches in the next three years, including all-new Duster and an EV

Renault India plans 5 new launches in the next three years, including all-new Duster and an EV

“We are going to make the Red Ocean more red,” claims Venkatram Mamillapalle, managing director of Renault India Private Limited, referring to the cutthroat competition in the compact SUV space at the sub-Rs 10 lakh price point. Renault has the Kiger vying for road space with the Hyundai Venue, Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Tata Punch and Nexon, and Kia Sonet, besides its sibling the Nissan Magnite.

Renault has a strategy up its sleeve. Venkatram says the company is looking to add more value to their cars, by offering more features than the competition, without a price increase. When asked if this would hit the company’s bottom line, he’s quick to point out that this value addition was possible because of cost optimisation by the engineering team, where significant cost savings were achieved on the production line itself, allowing the company to add more features and pass on the benefit to customers without taking a hit.

For instance, in the entry-level car space the Kwid competes with the Maruti Alto – a segment that has just the bare-basic mandated safety features. The company says by adding features like tyre pressure monitoring, and an 8-inch touchscreen with Android Auto, as well as new colours and later working on adding six airbags, it hopes to get an edge over its rival. It will also offer an automatic (automated manual transmission – AMT) variant.

Similarly, the Triber, which is the largest-selling vehicle for Renault, will see more feature additions in a bid to grab more market share. Renault claims that in rural markets it already has more than 41 percent share. It will get a new TFT instrument panel, wireless charger, and driver armrest among other features. The Triber has virtually no competition being priced lower than the Maruti Ertiga in this MPV segment, and competing only with the Maruti Eeco on some fronts.

As for the Kiger, its premium sub-4 metre compact SUV offering, it is competing in a pretty crowded market. To stand out, it will need to dole out a bunch of features – some include leatherite seats, steering wheel, red calipers, and auto-folding mirrors with full keyless entry.

Renault’s India line-up includes the Kwid, Triber and Kiger

The company’s market share in the passenger car market is currently at about 1.2 percent, having taken a hit financially during Covid as well as the Russia-Ukraine war. The company had nearly 35 percent market share in Russia but had to leave overnight. An inventory clean-up strategy also meant reducing production for a while. Venkatram is confident that the company will go back to over 2 percent share this year.

It has announced over Rs 5,300 crores in investment in India, which will go towards its future products. It will be launching five products over three years, including in B+ and C segment of SUVs, which include bringing back the popular Renault Duster that was discontinued a year ago. Besides, it’s also working on introducing a small EV, but will do so only after the charging network expands – it’s in talks with BPCL and HPCL for charging stations.

As far as sourcing batteries go, Venkatram says that he is optimistic about local sourcing, given that companies such as Vinfast and Ola are setting up close to 200 GW of cell capacity in total in India. That’s when dependence on imported cells will come down and local sourcing can take off, he says.

The company has also unveiled its new logo, which will soon appear on the grille of vehicles and in dealerships. A year ago, it also entered the used car business under the brand “Renew” a clever interplay of the words Renault and new, which will deal with pre-owned Renault cars.