Renaults $3000 car confirmed

[bigman]

I saw an interview with Carlos Ghosn of Renault on BBC last night. He confirmed that they were working on a $3000 car that would be made in India.

Should give Tata some competition.

Renault plans $3,000 car for Indian market - Independent Online Edition > Business News

Renault plans $3,000 car for Indian market

By Sean O'Grady

Published: 15 June 2007



Renault says it is considering producing an ultra-low-cost car, to be manufactured in India and aimed primarily at that market as well as other rapidly expanding emerging economies.
Annual car sales in India are expected to nearly double to two million by 2010 - approaching the size of the UK market in volume terms - with small cars making up more than two-thirds of the market.
Renault declined to confirm reports in the French press that the new vehicle would be priced at or below $3,000 (£1,500). "We are indeed thinking about a car that's more competitive than the Logan," said Renault spokeswoman Axelle de Ladonchamps, declining to give further details.
The Logan was launched three years ago and was Renault's first attempt at such a modern-but-no-frills design. Its low price - it sells at around $8,000, against an early, overambitious, target of $5,000 - is down to three factors which could easily be replicated for the smaller model.
First, it shares its basic chassis design or "platform" with the Renault Clio and the Nissan Micra, so offering economies on design and tooling.
Second, the materials and components used are lower grade and more simple than those found in most Western models. The latest electronic stability aids, soundproofing, safety kit and other extras are mostly omitted. Third, assembly has been allotted to low-cost nations, mainly Romania (by Renault subsidiary Dacia) and India (by partner Mahindra), but also Russia, Iran, Colombia, Brazil and Morocco.
The success of the Logan, which is sold in some European markets, will have encouraged Renault to take the concept to another market segment. Up to the end of last year, a total of 321,284 Renault/Dacia Logans had been sold, with production running at about 200,000 units a year.
Still higher volumes could be achieved with the new small car, and Renault has an agreement with Mahindra for a plant in southern India to roll out up to 400,000 vehicles per year, starting in mid-2009.
The new Renault/Dacia/ Mahindra supermini would compete with the ageing Fiat Palio and its replacement. It is unlikely to make it to Europe, not least because it would probably do badly in crash tests.

[Nitin]

Thats really good news!
I received a mail with some photos of a car from the Renault stable. It said that this car would be priced at Rs 1.35 lakhs,and was to be introduced in India sometime in 2008. It had a pretty futuristic design,and the whole car had a different look from the other cars of the same segment.
Too bad I deleted that email..

[theMAG]

This isnt new news. Ghosn has been giving these interviews since the Logan launch

[Nitin]

The news seemed good to me,since it justified the email i received. I had a feeling the email was bogus,and decided not to keep it. But to know that the car is actually hitting Indian shores,thats a good bit of news.

[Sparkie]

I guess Renault is solidifying such a plan, because till now they have always been saying 'considering'. Interestingly I read here that even GM is planning a sub $4000 car!
And I doubt if the mail was real, I don't think Renault would have an exterior design by now, because then the project should be in a more developed stage, not really starting. But if they do have one, this has to be a really well gaurded secret!

[RakishRam]

The price has been reduced to 2550$, per economic times to rival the Nano.
Come on Carlos, get rid of mats, mirrors and a few knobs to save another 50$ :-)

[neoonwheels]

I got a mail saying this is the Renault model which will be introduced for 1.35L. Honestly looking at the design (Which is way futuristic), I dont think it will come at 1.35L. Even I did not see this model anytime on TBHP as Renault's answer for nano... Seems that mail is a fake... Even the very mail said FIAT 500 will be targeted .

[carCrazy25]

Originally Posted by Nitin

Thats really good news!
I received a mail with some photos of a car from the Renault stable. It said that this car would be priced at Rs 1.35 lakhs,and was to be introduced in India sometime in 2008. It had a pretty futuristic design,and the whole car had a different look from the other cars of the same segment.
Too bad I deleted that email..

That's a spam mail my frnd...do not be decieved!!!
My fiance sent the same mail, and i was like definitely a joke.

[simonkayar]

There are two things
1. Renault's plan to produce a low cost car- this news might be and probably is TRUE
2. Email circulating with photos saying this is renault low cost car for 1.35 lakhs - FAKE (proof here)

This has been discussed and re-dicussed a number of times. The fake picture doing rounds is a concept car called Renault Bebop.

[hyper123]

Originally Posted by simonkayar

There are two things
1. Renault's plan to produce a low cost car- this news might be and probably is TRUE
2. Email circulating with photos saying this is renault low cost car for 1.35 lakhs - FAKE (proof here)

This has been discussed and re-dicussed a number of times. The fake picture doing rounds is a concept car called Renault Bebop.

Hey, nice find there. So those are two different cars - Be and Bop, one with the 1.6l engine and the other one with the 2.0l 220 bhp engine. The website states the year as 2003, so this isn't all new.

[snaronikar]

Now every car manufacturers wants to make a car within 1~1.5L range. The have sensed the minds of indian people. But I feel nothing can beat our own NANO.

[Ajaybiz]

Is it a joint venture between Nissan, Renault and Bajaj?What about Bajajs car which they have shown in Auto Expo, is it jointly develoed or their own product.

[ashutoshb]

Renault-Nissan to rival Tata Nano- Automobiles-Auto-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

**"You're going to see Renault and Nissan coming out with a different car in the same price range for the Indian market," Ghosn told Bloomberg TV.

**Renault is presently in talks with India's two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto Ltd.

no mention of bajaj in Ghosn's words. is the bajaj tie-up still not confirmed? Also, were there any Renault people at the Bajaj Car's launch?

Mr. Bajaj did say in an interview that even if the deal with renault doesn't materialize, they will go ahead on their own.

[thangu]

Tata worked really hard to get all their suppliers to work them to bring down the prices. They also have an established network which they seem to have leveraged and even with all this they will make a relatively small profit and that too only in the deluxe versions of the Nano.

The big question is will Nissan-Renault be able to pull this off? We all know what happened with the "cheap" sedan - Logan, so I'm a little sceptical when Nissan/Renault says they will make a car for $2550.

[pgsagar]

If the 7 lakh Logan can look so horrendous, then I shudder to think how horrible Renault's 1.35 lakh car would look. And, no the Yeni earlier rumoured to be the Nano contender is just a concept car. Judging by the way European cars are priced, Yeni should cost at least 50 lakhs.