It was precisely two years ago that Carlos Ghosn targeted India as Renault’s 11th largest market by end-2013. The French automaker’s Chairman and CEO had outlined a strategic plan, ‘Drive the Change’, in which he reiterated that Brazil and Russia, along with India, would be the growth engines of the future.
Last week, Ghosn announced that Renault had, for the first time, generated 50 per cent of its sales, totalling over 2.5 million vehicles, outside Europe. What was even more interesting was that Brazil, Russia and Argentina were among its top five markets.
There was no direct reference to India though it has been in 10th position for some months now, a slot higher than what was envisioned two years ago.
Focus shift
Clearly, Renault will increasingly look at emerging markets, with Europe still seeing a free fall. Its 2012 numbers in France were down 13 per cent while Italy’s fall was a lot sharper at 21 per cent and Spain as alarming, at 15 per cent.
In contrast, Russia was up 11 per cent while India was equally impressive with nine per cent growth. Brazil and Mexico grew six and nine per cent each while Japan surged 27 per cent.
Ghosn had also indicated that this year would see Renault focusing on expansion in Brazil and Russia while working on a revival plan in Korea. China, he said, was the ‘new frontier’ and India would capitalise on its remarkable turnaround momentum.
While there was no specific reference to Europe, auto industry observers believe it will be unpredictable, which means Renault’s sales in the region could fall below 50 per cent globally.
The Duster has been the best thing that happened to the company in India, with the order backlog estimated at over 30,000 potential customers. In 2011, Renault had just parted ways with Mahindra & Mahindra for the Logan project and started operations in Chennai with global ally, Nissan.
It launched the Fluence and Koleos, followed quickly by the Pulse before the Duster caught the eye of the market and gave the company a huge boost.
Compact car
Will India’s ranking climb further in the Renault roadmap? The next big thing, due towards 2015, is the global compact car, which will be part of the premium hatchback segment. This is a project spearheaded by Gerard Detourbet, referred to as the father of the company’s entry-car programmes.
If everything goes according to plan, India will be a critical global hub for the car along with Brazil, Russia and, perhaps, another country in the Asean region. In the process, it could perhaps end up being one of Renault’s top five markets by 2015-16.