Renault India targets 100,000 unit sales in 2015

The Indian subsidiary of French carmaker Renault S.A. is targeting sales of one lakh units in 2015, a company official said here on Thursday.

The company is also expecting its newly-launched multi-purpose vehicle and a scheduled hatchback launch in mid-2015 to contribute nearly 45,000 units to the projected sales figure, the official said. Renault observes the calendar year as its financial year.

"Our unit sales in 2014 (in India) were of 44,849 units. We aim to double this volume with the launch of the new multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) and another hatchback launch poised in the middle of 2015," the company's regional manager of east India, Ram Mohan Rai, told IANS on the sidelines of the launch of its new MPV, Lodgy.

Asked how the two models will help the company achieve the unit sales target, he said: "The products itself will drive the growth."

However, he declined to give any details over the scheduled hatchback car.

He said the company was setting up new dealerships to drive the sales growth across India and aims to penetrate the upcountry markets. "We presently have 157 dealerships and plan to take it to 205 this year... Upcountry locations are also a focus area this year."

As per the company official, the launch of Lodgy will help it garner at least 20 percent market share in the MPV category this year.

Presently, the company has six car models to cater to the Indian market and has a manufacturing facility in Oragadam in Chennai, Tamil Nadu with a capacity of 480,000 units per annum.