Renault India has announced that including the launch of the Triber in 2019, the manufacturer will be introducing new models in India every year for the foreseeable future. What is interesting that in a market where SUVs are growing one of the products Renault is working towards is confirmed to be a sedan. Additionally, Renault India’s management has stated that they have no plans to introduce electric vehicles in India before 2022.
At the launch of the new Renault Triber, Venkatram Mamillapalle, CEO and managing director of Renault India Operations said that the French auto manufacturer is working towards expanding its presence in India with a key focus towards expanding further into the rural markets in India. The manufacturer currently has around 350 sales and 250 service touchpoints in India which it plans to double by 2022 mostly seeing expansion in rural India as the manufacturer projects 30% of its overall sales can come from rural regions in the future.
Additionally, Mamillapalle also confirmed that Renault plans to launch a new product every year with the Triber being the first new model. These products will be specially designed for the Indian market and not global products tailored for India. He went on to state that one of these models will be a sedan as well. Currently, the manufacturer has not stated which segment it is targeting for the sedan, but it is more likely to be either be a sub-4-metre category sedan or a sedan for the C-Segment to rival the Ciaz, Verna and Vento. The manufacturer has also earlier confirmed that it is working on a sub-4-metre SUV based on the same platform as the Triber. These new models that Renault plans to design and introduce in India will be manufactured locally and will be exported as well
As far as electric vehicles are concerned, the manufacturer is currently evaluating the Indian market for the demand and infrastructure to support electric vehicles. While the manufacturer has stated a timeline of 2022 to introduce its first electric model in India, Mamillapalle stated that it will only do so on the condition that the infrastructure can support it.
For their existing line of models, Renault has said that the manufacturer is currently evaluating a new Duster for the Indian market. Whether it will be the same model sold in Europe is yet to be confirmed. As for the Captur, Renault said that it is aware that it brings in low numbers in sales, despite which it will continue to offer the Captur in India as it does see a demand, albeit small in number. The next launch from Renault is expected to be an update to the Kwid, which is said to be launched soon, possibly in September 2019.
With the launch of the new Triber, which competes against the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Swift, Grand i10 Nios and the Ford Figo, Renault is expecting to sell around 3,000 units every month of the new 7-seat model in India. With the new models confirmed for India, and the 2020 Auto Expo approaching the Renault stand at the event will be one to watch closely as the French automaker is sure to introduce some interesting stuff.
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