[Aroy]

I hope that the company will take some drastic measures - major discount schemes, to clear the inventory. Happened with Jazz. A couple of lacs of discounts and there after realignment of price, and Duster will be back in reckoning.

[rsidd]

The ET and Hindu articles suggest that it is not regular employees that are being fired, but contract workers to whom labour laws don't apply. Left unsaid is that all manufacturers from Maruti on rely heavily on contract workers, in order to bypass labour laws and avoid paying benefits.

The Renault-Nissan strategy has been a mystery to me. Apart from the after-sales issues cited by GTO and others, why duplicate models? Renault lucked out with the Duster which was the first in its category and reasonably priced at that time -- why make a duplicate of it under the Nissan badge? The Nissan Micra did quite well initially, why clone it under the Renault badge? And why run separate showrooms and service centres when it's the same car under the hood?

[amvj]

Once I was part of this lay off non-sense and it took me a long time to get back to the routine. Quite lot of mental agony in fact. We will only feel if we are part of it.

Sorry for the off topic. I am a bit surprised about this news. I thought Renault Kwid will bring back the fortunes to the company. They should have done this if they find Kwid is a failure here.

[hybridpetrol]

@rsidd, Cross badging is a strategy adopted by companies in order to quickly come up with a product at low cost. Companies have license agreements between them for this. It works in some markets where they buy such products fully aware of it but here we expect each car to be different so the strategy failed.

[Shashidl]

In the current scenario how good a decision would it be to buy a new Lodgy?
My family really liked the car and we were thinking of buying one, now I think we have to look elsewhere.
Are there chances of the company shutting shop? I know I am thinking too much but now i am skeptical of investing a cool 12lac on a car which is not selling much in the market.

[rsidd]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

@rsidd, Cross badging is a strategy adopted by companies in order to quickly come up with a product at low cost. Companies have license agreements between them for this. It works in some markets where they buy such products fully aware of it but here we expect each car to be different so the strategy failed.

I don't know of any examples of crossbadging in the same market. The Renault Duster is a rebadged Dacia, and that's fine, because there is no Dacia Duster in India. Similarly the Nissan Pixo in Europe which is a re-badged Suzuki A-Star. The Indian version of the Terrano makes no sense, nor would it make sense for Nissan to introduce the Pixo here (even if Suzuki allowed it).

Some may point to VW-Skoda (eg Vento and Rapid), but those cars look different enough physically even if the platform is the same.

[Doge]

Originally Posted by Shashidl

In the current scenario how good a decision would it be to buy a new Lodgy?
My family really liked the car and we were thinking of buying one, now I think we have to look elsewhere.
Are there chances of the company shutting shop? I know I am thinking too much but now i am skeptical of investing a cool 12lac on a car which is selling much in the market.

I think that the lodgy will do better later on,when the new Innova is out and when toyota will increase the price by a couple of lacs. The company is definitely here to stay. If you like the car, buy it,don't worry about the sales IMO. It may have a low resale value,but the spares wouldn't be a problem, thanks to the duster.

[xjosephjacob]

When a rivals new product arrives in the market, immediately pushing big discounts on your product will be counter productive. That's not the way to succeed at business. At-least, that's what the management classes teach. I completely disagree with people who say pushing discounts on your product is the way out.

When Companies brag that they receive so and so number of bookings, do you really think they have earned all those bookings ? Hasn't it occurred to you that they're primarily playing around with the stock market sentiments ?

[Chethan B G]

Originally Posted by Shashidl

In the current scenario how good a decision would it be to buy a new Lodgy?
but now i am skeptical of investing a cool 12lac on a car which is not selling much in the market.

If people do not buy from Renault, those 3000 odd Indian labors who lost their jobs, will be very happy.

As it is, choice from Maruthi can-not be overlooked. All the best!

[MadiMaama]

I would like to chip in with my 2 cents here. Nissan-Renault have not got their basics right-STP was not done correctly. I feel any company which needs to succeed needs to get their basics right. It is not just getting a brand ambassador and selling a product. They do not have any product bar the Duster which has got it's STP right. A few months ago, when I asked a marketing manager at Toyota about the Lodgy, he brushed off the Lodgy stating it is too cheap in terms of interior quality and features on offer

[ram_hyundai]

Originally Posted by Aroy

I hope that the company will take some drastic measures - major discount schemes, to clear the inventory. Happened with Jazz. A couple of lacs of discounts and there after realignment of price, and Duster will be back in reckoning.

This is not an issue with Renault alone. Its an alliance issue, Both Nissan and Renault. They are already giving huge discounts for Sunny, Terrano,and Duster.
Really wish to see Nissan and Renault come back strongly. I strongly feel that cutting of exports from India has led to this. Overall numbers went stooping down and local demand went down. They had come back from serious issues in the past also (warehouse burnt fully and left with zero inventory of spares with them). But none of the customers had to wait for them. All the best to the alliance to come back.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Shashidl

In the current scenario how good a decision would it be to buy a new Lodgy?
My family really liked the car and we were thinking of buying one, now I think we have to look elsewhere.
Are there chances of the company shutting shop? I know I am thinking too much but now i am skeptical of investing a cool 12lac on a car which is not selling much in the market.

Companies do not shut shop overnight. They try multiple ways to remain profitable & that may go for 3-4 years before they decide to quit.

Plus, Renault is still trying new products to test their luck. If you don't find a worthy replacement & don't care about the resale, you could buy the Lodgy. Have you looked at the A$$ & their feedback too?

[TheARUN]

Originally Posted by Shashidl

In the current scenario how good a decision would it be to buy a new Lodgy?
My family really liked the car and we were thinking of buying one, now I think we have to look elsewhere.
Are there chances of the company shutting shop? I know I am thinking too much but now i am skeptical of investing a cool 12lac on a car which is not selling much in the market.

The Lodgy is a good product, but it does not make sense to buy it now. You are going to look like the exception to the rule; you will have to fend off questions from almost everybody as to why you did not go for an Innova or Ertiga

I think your best bet would be to wait for the face-lifted Ertiga. It may not be as good as the Lodgy, but will gain appreciation for you from all quarters.

End of the day, its what you choose, if you want a good car and the rest of the world be damned, then go for the Lodgy, use the current market situation and squeeze out as big a discount as possible. However, if you want to blend in, then go for a used Innova or new Ertiga

[naikameya]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

.
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.

That is exactly what renault-nissan needs to do other than selling different products. All their cars are built on same old Logan/Micra platform which was cheap, utilitarian. In today's market it is only cheap with flawed ergonomics. Logan was designed as a cheap car and now you use the same in your premium offerings (I consider 8+ lakhs as premium). Even Eon has better interiors that your best seller.
Wake up guys, all your fancy designs centers in India making plastic cladding designs for existing cars is not going to help.

[swiftnfurious]

Off-Topic:

Originally Posted by TheARUN

...You are going to look like the exception to the rule; you will have to fend off questions from almost everybody as to why you did not go for an Innova or Ertiga

....It may not be as good as the Lodgy, but will gain appreciation for you from all quarters.....

A car is an emotional choice. You don't have to convince a single soul as to why you like a product or bought it over another one. You buy it because you liked it / suited your requirement / affordability. No one has to prove a point.

On the other hand, if you buy a product for the sake of 'blending in', you might crib for the rest of the ownership period.

Just yesterday my friend commented that I bought one of the biggest flops of all time, a Palio 1.6. I said I bought it to drive, not to impress others. He is still clueless as to what I meant, I couldn't care less.