Renault eyes 5% market share by 2017, says will launch new car every year

To export Made-in-India Kwid to South America, Africa and other emerging markets

Hoping to gain 5% market share in India by 2017, French automajor Renault has said that it would launch at least one new car every year in the country.

In a media round table, Sumit Sawhney, Country CEO and Managing Director, Renault India Operations, said that life cycle of products is coming down and new products are driving growth.

The company will next launch a seven-seat taxi variant of Lodgy to cater to the fleet segment, which constitutes nearly 55-60% of the MPV space.

The seven-seat taxi variant will double Lodgy sales from around 700-800 units a year currently, said Sawhney.

According to reports, fleet and taxi market has registered an annual growth of 15-20% with 2 million vehicles in the segment. With the growing Indian cab industry, OEMs are expecting an additional demand of 60,000 – 90,000 units every year.

On the newly launched Kwid, Sawhney said it is a "right product at right price, launched at right time and value for the money."

"Kwid is a big small car and it will be a game changer and will create a new benchmark in hatchback segment," he added. 

Renault is also planning to export Kwid from India to South America, Africa and other emerging markets.

Kwid is available for Rs 2.56 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). It is positioned against Maruti's Alto (Rs 2.83 lakh) and Hyundai's Eon (Rs 3.09-4.22 lakh).

On whether the company will be able to offer the same price going forward, Sawhney said "Its an introductory price, will be there for limited period. Prices have to change and it will be a small change."
 

Taking Kwid as an example, whcih has localisation level of 98%, Sawhney said the company is looking to increase average localisation levels to 80% from current 70%.

Renault has also taken up new initiatives including virtual showrooms, mobile show rooms, mobile workshops and others to reach out to new customers, especially in the tier II and III towns. Kwid is being showcased across 47 cities in the country.