Renault’s new budget car targets Indian market
The French Renault has launched its first budget car, which has been developed specially for India in a bid to secure a foothold in the country’s highly competitive market.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Renault chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, described the Kwid as "a car for conquest," which is designed to deliver high-volume sales as the French company tries to increase its share of the Indian market, AFP reported.
Being the first Renault car to have its global launch in India, the Kwid, will be sold in the second half of the year at 300,000 rupees (USD 4,700).
"India is not an easy market but we ... decided to play a role on this market," Ghosn said at the ceremony held to launch the car in the southern Indian city of Chennai, which is also the South Asian country’s car-making hub.
"This vehicle is a global car, if we make it in India, we will surely make it in all the world," the official said, adding that the country could be the world's fourth-biggest car market within five years.
Renault cars currently account for around 1.5 percent of car sold in India but the company aims to rapidly increase the figure to five percent with the Kwid and a new family car called the Lodgy.
The French company, however, faces strong competition in the small car sector from the Indian-Japanese manufacturer, Suzuki-Maruti, which is currently holding 45 percent of the market and is also facing competition from South Korea's Hyundai.
The Kwid will first go on sale in India before being presented across South Asia and if successful, it could be launched in other emerging markets.
During the last two decades foreign automakers have been struggling to conquer India’s car sector, owed to the country’s vast market of 1.25 billion people.
In the last financial year, India's car market grew by about 5 percent with 2.6 million cars sold. Renault sold almost 45,000 vehicles in the financial year ending March 2015, most of them the Duster SUV.
According to Ghosn, India is the sole country apart from China, which has been capable of realizing growth rates of over 6 percent a year.
"(The Kwid) was developed close to its market. Supplier sourcing in India has been raised to 98 percent. We can't be competitive if we don't use the resources in India," Ghosn added.
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