')">Renault’s Indian operations started out with their joint venture with Mahindra. This alliance resulted in the birth of the Mahindra Renault Logan. The Logan was a low cost car made for developing countries. It was widely acclaimed in India for its ride quality, handling and also the space and price it was available at. It soon became a favorite amongst the Meru brigade and was then transferred to oblivion. Renault plan to launch more of their cars in India and the Sandero would be one amongst them.
Now, the Renault Sandero is based on the Logan platform and this would help in getting the costs down. Renault plan to market the vehicle badged only as a Renault but through Mahindra’s showrooms. It will compete against established players like Maruti Ritz, Volkswagen Polo, Fiat Punto and the Ford Figo. For the domestic market, its length of 4.02 meters will be curbed to get it under the 4 meter mark and hence make it eligible for excise benefits. It is a handsome looking hatch with seating for 4 people available. It will feature a 1200cc capacity petrol engine and also the 1.5 diesel from the Logan. Mahindra Renault Sandero in India would be manufactured at the Mahindra’s facility in Nashik. Its boot space is pegged at 340 liters and a huge 1018 liters with the rear seats down.
It will have a host of safety features as also state of the art electronic nannies. The only problem seems to be that the 1.2 liter engine may be too small for the heavy car. The pricing factor also has to be kept and we hope that M&M and Renault India have learnt their lessons well with the low cost Mahindra Renault Logan. The 1.2 petrol Mahindra Renault Sandero price would be around Rs.4.3 lakhs and the diesel upto Rs.5 lakhs. It would then certainly be a win-win situation for Renault India with the Sandero giving good fuel efficiency, space, safety and all that is demanded in this segment. It would be launched by April 2011.
