By design

Renault opens its new design centre in Mumbai.

In the three years that Renault has been in India, it has slowly and steadily increased its presence. First, it set up a JV with Mahindra for the Logan, followed by a JV with sister company Nissan for a plant at Chennai and then with Nissan and Bajaj for its Ultra Low Cost (ULC) car.

And now, it is integrating Renault’s Indian operations into the larger international spectrum by opening its new design centre in Mumbai.

The design centre is part of Renault’s network of design centres across the globe, the sixth after the ones in Barcelona, Paris, Kihueng, Sao Paolo and Bucharest.

The satellite design centre will, among other things, work on projects with Mahindra Renault, assist in Renault India’s range development — including the ULC — develop a range of accessories for Renault’s products and eventually integrate within the larger design culture of Renault worldwide.

Renault Design India, as it’s called, has a strength of 16 employees, most of whom have completed their education at the finest design colleges across the globe. Eventually, this number too will increase, to around 20 to 25 employees.

Since its inception in 2005 as a small group of three, they’ve delivered and executed a couple of projects, such as the Logan Steppe concept, the sourcing of fabrics for Renault cars globally, the Logan Edge limited edition and the forthcoming evolution of the Logan’s interiors and Logan Sport.

But the big news is the ULC project. The team in India, along with Renault’s global operations and Bajaj, has managed to freeze the final design of the car just a few weeks ago.

To be most likely built at Bajaj’s greenfield facility in Chakan, Pune, the JV will construct a four lakh a year capacity plant to cater to the domestic needs, before it starts exports.

Expected to be launched in 2011, the ULC will take on Tata’s Nano and Hyundai’s low-cost car in the Rs 1 to 2 lakh segment. A petrol and diesel engine are on the cards, with the likelihood of both engines being either two or three cylinder affairs.

While the ULC is high on Renault’s plans for India, it’s also fast coming up with its plant at Chennai, from where the first cars will roll out in late-2009/early-2010.

Not much is known about the product portfolio, but some of the cars that could emerge from its gates include the Megane saloon that will rival the likes of the Honda Civic and Skoda Laura, the Clio hatchback that will take on the Maruti Swift and Skoda Fabia and even possibly the Sandero, a Logan-derived hatchback that could seriously threaten the Swift.

Renault is also open to imports and could bring in some of its more premium offerings via this route. These, though, are still some years away, but for now we can look forward to more variants of the Logan.