French carmaker Renault, which has created significant demand in India for two of its models -- the compact SUV Duster and hatchback Kwid -- in the past, is confident of replicating the same with the upcoming launch of its new seven-seater Triber. The company believes that the new product will help it achieve its goal of doubling domestic sales by 2022.
According to the company, the sub-4 meter car is the outcome of a joint project between Renault teams in India and France and has been designed keeping in the needs of Indian automobile customers. “India is a key market for Groupe Renault. We are still young to India, yet our ambitions are high in line with our ‘Drive the Future’ strategic plan: we aim at doubling our sales by 2022. For that reason, we are bringing Renault Triber, which will cater to India’s core market. It is a real game-changer for us,” Groupe Renault Chief Executive Officer Thierry Bollor said.
While the company wants to double sales to two lakh units annually over the next three years, Renault has not seen much demand for its models in recent times.
According to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Renault India’s market share has almost halved to just 2.3 per cent in FY19 from 4.43 per cent in FY17. In FY19, its India sales plunged 22 per cent to just around 82,000 units, even as the passenger vehicle industry managed to grow by nearly 3 per cent.
Sales of high volume grosser Kwid fell a whopping 21.90 per cent to 64,913 units in the same fiscal year, while Duster sales currently stand nowhere close to rival models like the Hyundai Creta and Maruti Suzuki Brezza. The company’s most recent SUV launch — the Captur — which came with impressive features and a new look has also received only a lukewarm response from the market. But, while admitting that the company has made mistakes in the past, Bollor pointed out that the fact that India is the fourth largest, and is soon to be the third largest, automobile market in the world is a good enough reason to keep investing in India.
Besides building on the ICE engine, the company is also keeping an eye on the e-mobility space. Bollore also pointed out that while Renault did not have the right EV product for India in the recent past, it now has “at least one right product” with more in the pipeline “which could be extremely appropriate for this market”.
He even hinted that the company may opt to manufacture the EVs locally. “There is no reason why for EVs it would be different. If you really want to serve your customer properly in such a massive market like India, you have to (locally manufacture) in India,” Bollor went on to state.
The new Triber, meanwhile, is fitted with a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder petrol energy engine generating 72 PS with 96 Nm of torque. It can be paired with a five-speed manual transmission or five-speed EASY-R AMT. Its powertrain is already used on Groupe Renault’s B-Segment cars in Europe and South America like the Clio and Sandero.
The company claims that the car can fit seven people comfortably and has the best boot space in the segment when the third row of seats are removed. The success of the car, many believe, will depend on how aggressive the company is in its pricing, with sources saying that the price tag could be between Rs 5-8 lakh.
Renault aims big with sales target
While the industry’s sales have done extremely poorly over the last few quarters, Renault plans to nearly double its annual sales in India to 2 lakh units per annum by 2020
Popular models disappoint in FY19
India sales of the high volume Kwid fell a sharp 21.90 per cent to 64,913 units in FY19, while Duster sales trail far behind rival models like Hyundai Creta and Maruti Suzuki Brezza