The country MD for Renault India, Marc Nassif, said that their car production plant will soon begin its third shift and increase their output to almost double, at 4 lakh models by next year.
During the opening of the company’s new Chennai dealership, Nassif had said that the third shift at their production plant will begin in a few weeks time, increasing output by 2 lakh models per annum. By mid-2012 the second line will be ready to double the company’s production capacity.
The JV of Renault-Nissan will complete their planned INR 4,500 crore investment soon. The JV was offered structured incentives from the state government of Tamil Nadu for making huge investments in the auto sector will beat their 2015 deadline of investments in two years at least, according to Nassif.
They will introduce three new models by next year, so that their portfolio includes 5 models, including the Koleos, a 4X4 SUV that will be introduced this year, reaching sales of 100,000 units per annum by 2013. To reach this goal, they will have around 100 dealer outlets in India by next year end. Currently the company has 12 dealer outlets that will increase to 40 dealer outlets by 2011 end.
The deputy country MD for Renault Group, Sudhir Rao, said regarding Renault being their first choice to enter India, the feature packed and stylish Fluence showcases Renault’s missing face in the Indian auto market. This will help to correct the ‘plain Jane’ perception created earlier with the launch of their Logan, which did not do well in the market. He added that by 2012, with other models being launched by Renault in India, they will occupy a better position in the market.
So far, the Fluence is available in India is a petrol variant at INR 14.40 lakhs, and the diesel variant for INR 12.99 lakhs. They also changed the trend in the market by offering their diesel variant cheaper than their petrol variant. The diesel variant also has fewer features, as they believe people looking at a low ownership cost, will prefer to economise their purchase.