[Aditya]

Earlier this year, Renault unveiled the Oroch, a medium-sized pickup truck at Buenos Aires. While the vehicle was originally aimed at South American markets, latest media reports suggest that the company could consider bringing it to India.



Based on the Duster, the Oroch has a twin cab body style with four doors and five seats. It is positioned in the 0.5-tonne segment.

Renault wants to expand its light commercial vehicle (LCV) business and for this, it plans to explore new markets. Renault believes that markets in the Asia-Pacific region will be instrumental in achieving its goal. The pickup truck segment accounts for 40% of global LCV sales.



India is likely to be one of the markets that Renault starts selling LCVs in. However, at present the company does not consider it viable to enter the LCV market in the country. It could consider the step as the market matures. Before India, Renault is likely to launch its products in Thailand and Australia.

Other players like Isuzu, Tata Motors and Mahindra are already present in the pickup truck segment in India. Isuzu expects the segment to grow and is of the opinion that in less than 10 years from now, 10-15 million vehicles will be sold in the segment annually in the country.

Source: Autocar Professional

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by Aditya

However, at present the company does not consider it viable to enter the LCV market in the country.

Good analysis, given that the plan is to extend Duster to make it a pick up truck.
a) Cheapest Duster priced at 8.3L ex-showroom Delhi. From the pictures, it seems that, the same 4-seater, has an additional load carrying area. That would increase prices above 12L for the end users. Of course, Renault can cut down several features on the base version to decrease prices further.
b) When a pick-up version, with the same exterior looks is available, the passenger segment Duster might be affected. Think about how the future of many cars were doomed after they were sold as Taxis (Indica/Indigo, Logan/Verito, Etios). We are yet to see an example in India, where the same car is sold as passenger car & pickup truck version together.

Renault has not yet grown above Duster, so IMHO it makes sense to increase its foothold in passenger cars, by focussing on A.S.S, good passenger cars first.

[RWD]

Wow! Can't stop drooling. This truck looks hot. Although, I can't fault Renault's apprehension about this product's relevance in the Indian market, as I also wonder who will buy a premium pick-up truck in India, but I hope they take a chance with the first mover advantage, and, carve out a new segment. I often find pick-ups more appealing than their SUV counterparts. f-150 Raptor, anyone?

On a side note, I really hope this is the face hiding under the camouflage of the Duster face-lift.

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

We are yet to see an example in India, where the same car is sold as passenger car & pickup truck version together.

I can think of Mahindra Scorpio/Getaway, Xylo/Genio and Bolero/Bolero pick-up

[GTO]

Since they are still mulling over it, let me tell them this = DON'T.

- You have three brands in India, and all of them are in a weak position.

- The 3 brands sell 13 cars in India, of which ONLY ONE actually moves (the Duster). The rest are all flops.

Please stop distracting yourself. Focus, focus, focus. There is still a lot of work to be done on the existing strategy.


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[thatsdileep]

Wow... the design definitely looks better for this pickup truck than Duster IMO. But I doubt if it will ever take off in the near future.

LCVs in Indian market is all about cargo movers. I've seen Tata ace running across 500-1000 km to deliver goods. If bigger size cargo needs to be hauled, there are Eichers and Ashok Leyland trucks (lorries). In this class of transportation, they are not worried about comfort or style, rather they just are keen on reliable movers with bare minimum equipment, low maintenance (even if there is a ding or scratch they would like to dent it out or touch it up themselves rather than running to the showroom for cost fixing solutions). I really pity the lorry drivers in India who have to travel across the country (sometimes at snail pace due to the heavy load) to deliver cargo without the comforts of bucket seats, lumbar supports, ac, 6 channel audio system. In such vehicles NVH levels are thrown out of the window (which is always open anyway as there is no roll up /down glass).
The customers I anticipate for this type of fancy LCVs in India would be business men with decent margins who would prefer a cargo mover/family vehicle.

[BlackPearl]

IMHO instead of targeting the LCV segment with the Oroch they should market this as a lifestyle vehicle in India. The nature and wildlife photographers will love the rear loading bay to place their tripods. This looks upmarket and will have less chance of being rejected by the better half compared to a Getaway or Xenon.

[saurabhdadhichi]

Originally Posted by GTO

Since they are still mulling over it, let me tell them this = DON'T.

- You have three brands in India, and all of them are in a weak position.

- The 3 brands sell 13 cars in India, of which ONLY ONE actually moves (the Duster). The rest are all flops.

Please stop distracting yourself. Focus, focus, focus. There is still a lot of work to be done on the existing strategy.

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True words GTO. Renault will also have another successful product to their credit with Kwid which is mainly targeted for mass market. With the low volumes and brand value that exists with Renault, there is no better way than to focus on economies of scale in a price seeking market. Not just good vehicles will help but more importantly good dealers network is what Renault is targeting as well at the moment.

Kwid a car that has so much potential will be not able to generate volumes if there is no reach to remote parts of India. Renault knows this well and is working very seriously towards it.

Strategy doesn't have to focus on new segment but also how to maintain the gain put forward by a generation older Duster.

A simple question can be What comes after Duster?

[vinayrathore]

Not sure why Renault wants to experiment this way.

As GTO rightly said, bringing this should be a big NO and they should first focus on their passenger cars.

On the other hand, when they have some really good practical LCVs in Europe, why cant they simply homologate and bring them on. I am sure many of them are much better than our M&M and TATA pickups.