MUMBAI: Unfazed by the recent dip in personal vehicle sales in the country, Renault India is looking at market expansion through new launches and at doubling of sales volume, Venkatram Mamillapalle, Country CEO and Managing Director of the company told reporters at an informal interaction in Mumbai on Monday.
Mamillapalle, who took charge as CEO in February, said that for an emerging market like India, there can be no market collapse; and as the stock markets, a correction is good for growth to escalate again.
“I am not going to sit in a corner and cry that the market is not favourable for me. I believe it is favourable for us because I am getting to a segment where nobody is there,” he said. Coming next from Renault stable is Triber, defined as a modular car that doesn’t fit into any of the segments that the market has at present. The Triber launch by the second half of 2019 would be followed by a launch code named HBC, again one that won’t fit into any of the existing segments, Mamillapalle said.
While Duster and Kwid would continue, the idea is to have a product-offensive plan and achieve break-even as per the medium-term plan.“We are very successful in Duster, everyone knows. We were successful in Kwid. And (with) RBC (code name for Triber) we want to play the same…That is my first struggle, that RBC gets the same reputation as Duster,” Mamillapalle said. Triber is built on a new platform, defining a new segment that will bridge the gap between Kwid and Renault’s SUV offerings.
The three-pronged strategy Mamillapalle has laid out is to make all entities of the Alliance work as one team, bound by one ambition; prioritising the “customer first” approach across verticals; and third, to profitably double the sales volume. The focus is also on making dealer partners profitable, leading to Renault’s turnaround by an increase in volume and offerings.
Renault India is also keen to have a presence in the electric vehicles segment and has sought budgetary support from the group. The launch would also depend on the Centre’s EV policy and the demand and price of batteries. Standardisation of batteries can help EV sales, Mamillapalle said. Migration to BS-VI is not a concern for Renault, as the group already has the technology. Renault has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chennai with 4,80,000 units annual production capacity.