Renault India has said that it would prefer starting its India journey with a mid-size compact sedan or a sports utility vehicle (SUV) than by launching a small car in the crowded ?B? segment. This will help it establish brand equity.
The company hopes to sell 100,000 units a year from 2013-14 with 70 dealers, said Marc Nassif, country general manager and MD, Renault India.
Speaking to FE, he said: ?We have decided to launch five products on or before 2013-14. We expect to launch our first product in mid-2011 and will start with a mid-size compact sedan ? Fluence and a SUV ? Kolios. This will be followed by a slew of ?B? segment compact cars. We hope to sell 2,000 units of Fluence and Kolios, initially.?
As part of its joint venture with Nissan, the company has decided to start with Nissan Micra , launched today.
The company is in the process of establishing a commercial distribution network across the country. It will have 11-12 dealers in place before its first product launch. ?We expect to have around 70 dealers by 2013-14.?
Nassif added: ?Both Nissan and Renault will share back-office related services/jobs, including vendors/suppliers of components till such time we achieve a volume of 100,000 units. We hope that by 2013-14, Renault will achieve the desired target. Then ,we will think of creating a set of vendor network for ourselves.?
Renault will have its own marketing/sales and dealership network to establish a identity and to grow sales, he maintained. Nassif, who is also the Deputy Managing Director of Renault-Nissan Automobile India, said the company is keen on localising production.