French carmaker Renault India is working on introducing compressed natural gas (CNG) variants of its vehicles, joining the ranks of major automakers like Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai, which have already launched CNG versions of their popular models.
“Our CNG cars will come quickly along with the portfolio of new products that we have announced earlier,” Venkatram Mamillapalle, country CEO and MD, Renault India, said at an event on Wednesday.
It currently manufactures three models: Kwid (small car), Kiger (premium hatchback) and Triber (multi-utility vehicle). Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka contribute a majority of Renault India’s sales.
“North is more of a CNG market, but we are not there in this segment. We are mostly in petrol. However, slowly the south is also moving towards CNG, so we need to prepare for that,” Mamillapalle added.
This comes at a time when major automotive OEMs are expanding their CNG variants. Last week, Maruti Suzuki launched the CNG version of its popular hatchback, Swift, which competes with Tata Tiago CNG and Hyundai Grand i10 Nios CNG. Tata Motors, which already offers CNG versions across its major models, is also set to launch a CNG version of its popular compact SUV Nexon shortly.
In February, the Renault-Nissan Alliance committed an investment of Rs 5,300 crore in the Indian market, with plans to roll out six new vehicles, including a fully electric vehicle (EV), for both domestic and international markets.
Mamillapalle said the project is on schedule, but declined to provide further details. “We will announce the timelines as soon as we have the timelines fixed for all the vehicles. Everything will be sequenced and announced accordingly,” he said.
However, he noted that 70-80% of the committed investment has already been made. Currently, Renault and Nissan’s passenger cars are produced at the Renault-Nissan Automotive India plant in Oragadam, on the outskirts of Chennai, with a capacity of 480,000 cars per annum.
Mamillapalle mentioned that the plant currently operates at a 45% capacity utilisation between Renault and Nissan vehicles, including both domestic and export markets. Once the new products are launched, this utilisation could rise to 80%.
According to FADA data, Renault India’s total sales dropped significantly to 46,614 units in FY24, from 75,447 units in FY23. Mamillapalle acknowledged that the market has been challenging and said the company plans to navigate these difficulties through product innovations and the launch of limited editions.
On Wednesday, Renault rolled out a limited-run edition for all three of its models — Kwid, Kiger and Triber—called the “Night & Day Edition”.
The new Triber would cost Rs 20,000 more than the RXL manual variant, priced at Rs 7 lakh (ex-showroom). The premium hatchback Kiger is priced at Rs 6.75 lakh, with an additional cost of Rs 15,000, while the new Kwid, equipped with a host of features, will be available at its current price of Rs 4.99 lakh (ex-showroom), with no additional costs. The new variants will be limited to 1,600 units and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, according to the company.
