The Hindu Business Line : French accent

The French first came to India in the 18th century. The people and the language are not new to us. And yet, most Indian car buyers may not be very familiar with the big brands of the French automotive industry. Even if they have seen or heard of the brand, many of them will not spell and pronounce the brand name correctly. We hear that Renault is aware of this issue and will attempt to conduct brand clinics and possibly even media brand awareness campaigns targeted at potential car buyers to improve recall.

Renault (pronounced `Re' — as in regular — and `nault' — pronounced know) is one of the largest automotive groups in Europe. Renault acquired majority stakes in the Romanian car manufacturer Dacia and in the Korean carmaker Samsung Motors. Renault also has an alliance with Nissan Motor, wherein it owns a 44.3 per cent share in the Japanese company, and the latter owns about 15 per cent in the French company.

Renault employs over 1.26 lakh people and has an industrial and commercial presence in 118 countries. In 2005, Renault sold 2,533,428 vehicles worldwide earning revenues of Euro 41.3 billion. Some of the most popular Renault vehicles include the Clio, Megane, Scenic, Laguna and Espace. The company manufactures the Logan and the Logan MCV under the Dacia brand in Romania for the French and East European markets. The Logan is also manufactured and sold in other countries such as Russia, Iran and Morocco.

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