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Old 20th August 2015, 22:52   #16
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

A Perfect Storm for them:

1. The 'Ruster' fiasco (http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/mis...ssues-surface/) put paid to their plans to export the RHD Duster from India across the globe.
2. Did not bother to facelift the Duster even though they improved a lot of the tough bits (ECU tweaks, new dashboard etc)' in February 2015.
3. Allowed Nissan India to charge a ridiculous premium for the Terrano
4. Messed up with the Hover Automotive dispute
5. Allowed monopolies to form like giving all dealerships to Trident in BLR
6. Suddenly gave humongous price cuts especially on the AWD
7. No methodical reaction to the Creta game changer! Offering 9.99% as a 'special offer' from Renault Finance is an insult when SBI offers 10.25% with no prepayment penalties
8. Messed up with NCAP on the Datsun thing.
9. Suddenly ditched the Evalia and Stile
10. Messed up the Dost partnership too. Allied JV but following the overall trend.

Disappointing! Had they for all this better, I would have willingly bought a Duster or Terrano at least 2 years back.

Last edited by itwasntme : 20th August 2015 at 22:56. Reason: Datsun!
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Old 21st August 2015, 07:24   #17
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
I'm sure they have their MBAs, the research-driven analysts, lots of excel sheets and a never-ending supply of powerpoints.

BUT

Sometimes, it's all about the basics. Really. Renault-Nissan would do well by reading this thread - link.

It's all down to the product, the customer and how you take care of him. 90% of Nissan owners I've spoken with hate the way they've been treated after buying the car. I'm part of that 90%. They have an incredibly poor street reputation, at least in Mumbai.
You are spot on, GTO. Unless until you care about the person on the street who has made either the correct or incorrect decision about buying a car (that is a long term decision), no car maker is going to survive.
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Old 21st August 2015, 08:10   #18
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

Interesting discussion. But to the common man looking to buy a new Car / SUV / MUV this is a great opportunity to squeeze out maximum discounts from the dealer. He does not care about the profits of the company.
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Old 21st August 2015, 08:30   #19
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Totally disappointing from Renault-Nissan. This is what happens if you are a one car wonder.
Hyundai who is their neighbour must be laughing their guts out. One Creta has derailed a Global Manufacturer.
Hope Hyundai will be able to absorb some Renault-Nissan staff.
They got lucky with the Duster but at the same time headstrong with the success.
Ranbir Kapoor cannot sell cars? They should have realized that competition would not let them eat their pie forever.

Ford is another example of one car wonder. Fingers crossed on the Aspire. They have made the right push with this model and hope the customers are kind . Ecosport will take a beating sooner than later with Maruti all set to role out the compact SUV.

In India I guess no company can survive with a single model lineup. Period.

Another strategic disaster. They will still go down further with bad press.
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Old 21st August 2015, 10:33   #20
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

Every car buyer is perspective customer for a manufacturing company and that has been the mantra of success for MSIL and Hyundai (among mass market players) and may be even for Ford now.

- Customer is on their skyline and not below the radar
- Retaining a customer and getting repeat business has been their philosophy and not just a sale (Ford has come up to it, MSIL and Hyundai were always there)
- Maintaining spare inventory, minimum turnaround time for vehicles gives confidence to the buyer (I have heard from one of my friends - Car meetha kharcha hai, its a sweet investment, you forget everything once the car is running fine). Both MSIl and Hyundai are prompt in carrying out maintenance, be it the fact that the vehicles are maintenance friendly or that they are trained to deliver fast, well the customer sticks to their brand.

None of these players have gone by first principle of customer satisfaction.

Honda is acting funny with little bit of success and so was Renault with Duster, whereas MSIL and Hyundai seem to have been consistent in behavior and I am sure these companies have witnessed more success and failures among the whole lot of car manufacturers in India.

Many of us say that India is a tough market, well no, it is not - it is a country that will not forgive you, it is a country where your commitment gives you results and word of mouth has a lot of value instead of finding a fine cinema personality endorsing your product.

Amol Palekar was valued equal to several other high profile artists, no reason to be Amitabh only for success. Keep your head high, yet feet on the ground and watch out of your competition - you are good to go !

All the best to the French-Japanese duo !
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Old 21st August 2015, 10:48   #21
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

I think Renault have stalled on the Duster. They should have made significant changes to update the Duster through a facelift before the launch of the Hyundai Creta (and the S-Cross).

After Creta has become available, suddenly the Duster is looking dated (even though it's mechanicals and suspension are well suited for our roads). After seeing pictures of the facelift model launched in Brazil, I don't think Renault has done enough to make the interiors feel more premium:

Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing-2015renaultdusterfaceliftinteriorbrazil.jpg

The automatic gear lever looks like it came off a Japanese car from the 90's

The Duster had ruled the roost in it's hey-day, but now it has to face competition from newer and more sophisticated rivals. Renault India has to up their game.

It also does not help that the Lodgy has not been able to gain traction in our market.
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Old 21st August 2015, 10:50   #22
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

Bang on - MBAs / analysts are like the workers on a ship. It's the captain who ultimately decides and vetoes what is to be done.
Disclaimer: I am an MBA and my wife is an analyst

More bad news... today's newspapers confirms that they've laid off close to 1000 people and is just the start:
Renault-Nissan cuts jobs, output in India as sales slow (http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/0...0QP0S020150820)


Quote:
Originally Posted by phamilyman View Post
Actually I think you're unfairly bashing the MBAs and the analytical process. Any reasonable person (forget MBAs or otherwise) would've come to similar conclusions. Its more of leadership faults and minion-like mindset of everyone below, regardless of degree.

Sometimes one memo by one misguided leader is all it takes to destroy thousands of jobs and billions in shareholder value and nearly kill off an iconic company:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Elop
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Old 21st August 2015, 10:56   #23
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

A multi-national conglomerate, functioning in a country with no labour laws, all of a sudden fires its employee. Wow, what a shocker!
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Old 21st August 2015, 12:20   #24
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

A small imagination of some of the reasons and action plans, the Indian Renault heads might be reporting to their parent company bosses for their inventory pile up. Just for fun, no need to take any offense.

a) Majority of the people here blindly put their faith in one brand - Maruti. Customers here are very hesitant to look beyond Maruti, so it is nearly impossible to bring them out of this and recognize our products.
b) Indian customers do not understand their vehicles well, and they need the manufacturer to provide after sales support and spoon feed each and everything. They actually feel good if they get Service Reminders! Strange!
c) Market is not so mature, so they do not really understand what is "Cross-badging". They think it is the some kind of lowly job (Copy-paste work), and are annoyed by the thought of it.
d) They do not follow international markets and hence they have not recognized our worldwide brand image. Brands such as Ford, Fiat, Chevrolet are also not recognized much here.
e) We brought fresh products with engines and interiors which are just 20 years old. But the customers are not up to it. We are way ahead of the times, and the customers are not able to see it.

The Action plan:
1) They love anniversary specials, limited editions, etc. We would suggest to paint all the remaining Dusters, Lodgys in bright yellow color and put black stickers all around. They consider these sporty.
2) They love gold. So, gold can be given as assured gifts with every purchase of low end cars. Before we say sale, the cars would have been sold.
3) There is a problem with our capacity planning, and hence more than 50% of the employees can be sent home. No questions will be asked for this. We will be safe.
With the above actions, our company face a strong growth prospect.
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Old 21st August 2015, 12:32   #25
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

Quote:
Originally Posted by avdhesh15 View Post
Bang on - MBAs / analysts are like the workers on a ship. It's the captain who ultimately decides and vetoes what is to be
And there is a reason why the Captain is given that authority. The Captain does not just do a degree and sit on the top. You have to start at the bottom or at least spend time time doing jobs with the bottom rung of workers. So when you become Captain you know exactly what workers are doing. Also when things go wrong due to any mistake of anyone the Captain faces the music. So I guess the bosses in Renault know what they are doing.

BTW I'm not a MBA or any other prestegious degree holder
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Old 21st August 2015, 14:05   #26
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

With due apologies - this thread is going over the top as well.

Its not like the Duster bookings have fallen off the cliff and are in free fall. July is attributable to the Creta buzz - it is not a permanent trend. Not yet. That said - There is immense respect for the Duster from most quarters, even as everyone acknowledges that its over-priced. It is not a HM Ambassador that very few even wanted to buy once the new crop of cars was released.

This is nothing which a little discount and strong customer orientation cannot fix. But yes, it requires management to think differently and work hard on ensuring customer delight. Its not impossible, and like GTO said, they just need to listen to their customer and treat him like God. They also need to support their STAR dealers (e.g Nath Nissan in Delhi was a star dealer but shut down due to difficulties) who customers flock to.

............. but will they?

/and if Fiat's experience is anything to go by, it won't be easy / quick either.
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Old 21st August 2015, 17:11   #27
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

Time for hard realisation. And am happy that Renault-Nissan has come to face it though its unfortunate that 3000 jobs are lost.

1. Please have reasonable prices for your products; in this age, I expect an ACC in a 7L car; let alone a 14L product.

2. Please also equip your sales & service divisions to treat customers proper.

3. Please upgrade your current products at the right time to stay afloat in the market than waiting till eternity - see how Hyundai upped their game.

4. As someone pointed, please do bring in better & beautiful products in your global line up. If a Creta / Elite i20, is selling with waiting period for months, it means the market has matured enough for better product / price range.
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Old 21st August 2015, 17:36   #28
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Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

Quote:
Originally Posted by phamilyman View Post
With due apologies - this thread is going over the top as well.

Its not like the Duster bookings have fallen off the cliff and are in free fall. July is attributable to the Creta buzz - it is not a permanent trend. Not yet. That said - There is immense respect for the Duster from most quarters, even as everyone acknowledges that its over-priced. It is not a HM Ambassador that very few even wanted to buy once the new crop of cars was released.

This is nothing which a little discount and strong customer orientation cannot fix. But yes, it requires management to think differently and work hard on ensuring customer delight. Its not impossible, and like GTO said, they just need to listen to their customer and treat him like God. They also need to support their STAR dealers (e.g Nath Nissan in Delhi was a star dealer but shut down due to difficulties) who customers flock to.

............. but will they?

/and if Fiat's experience is anything to go by, it won't be easy / quick either.

Totally agree with you. All that people are saying is that Renault or any other company cannot survive on just one product, sell it and forget the customer.
There is a huge customer disconnect after sale. Hyundai has just upped the game in both their understanding of what the customer wants and also taken good care of him after the sale.

I for one never used to look at a Hyundai 4 years ago. I have a Neo Elantra and an I10 grand automatic from them. Also considering the Creta next month. So what is it that they are doing right?
I also have a Fiat Punto and a Ford Fiesta. I really dread repairs or service of these 2 cars as much as I enjoy driving them.
I need to drive 40 Kms to service my Fiat and most of the time it's along wait for parts.
Hyundai and Maruti are 2 Kms away from both home or office or for that matter anywhere.

It all boils down to customer,customer,customer. Also they need to have atleast 2-3 products that are selling well. Their Design and marketing teams have a big issue here.

My experience is that we 90,000 odd members of Team Bhp are in a big minority to impact the sales figures. A car that's loved by the Forum enthusiasts may never cut the ice with the general market. I for one believe that our forum is passionate and will call a spade a spade, be it a Hyundai or a Renault.


Totally with you mate. Let's hope Renault turns around as it truly makes great cars.
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Old 21st August 2015, 18:23   #29
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Re: Renault-Nissan India begins massive downsizing

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Originally Posted by ashwin489 View Post
A multi-national conglomerate, functioning in a country with no labour laws, all of a sudden fires its employee. Wow, what a shocker!
There is a logical flaw in your argument. If there are no labour laws (surprise that a tbhpian can say that) the why is firing is a shocker? If there are no laws then you are not restricted by law.
However if it is a shocker then it is something which is against the law, which means there are some laws.
So, either you have no law or you have a shocker. Both cannot be there.
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Old 21st August 2015, 18:34   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by autobahnjpr View Post
There is a logical flaw in your argument. If there are no labour laws (surprise that a tbhpian can say that) the why is firing is a shocker? If there are no laws then you are not restricted by law.

However if it is a shocker then it is something which is against the law, which means there are some laws.

So, either you have no law or you have a shocker. Both cannot be there.

His comment was meant to be sarcastic.
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