Renault may Drive out From India

vasudeva · 13th February 2009, 12:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

I hope it happens soon. They had third world attitude for us and I am happy to see that they paid heavy price for it. They took us for granted from day 1. A product, given what it offered, was not worth even a look and here Indigo gave a massive blow to Renault. Renault might be a good name, but India is as usual unique.

In general, I think that Europeans feel they are way superior to us, so they offer their products at a very high price.

Renault a good name???. Perhaps in France, some Francophone countries, and with some others in some countries.

Agree on the 2nd statement: European car makers have a tendency to overprice, under deliver, and generally assume a superior air.

Logan was a decent product for the price. For those not liking it looks, the price made up. When a two-decade old design (M-800) can work in India, why not a relatively recent Logan.

raul · 13th February 2009, 13:19

Renault should get their better models here like Clio and Megane, the Indian car market is maturing and this low cost stuff just ends up being marketing and very poor value for money.

And by launching Logan first they have anyway dented their brand value. Anyway the Indian consumer gets taken for granted on many parameters inpiste of paying top dollar and only serious car makers with a strategy for India will survive.

amtak · 13th February 2009, 13:31

Wasn't BAJAJ's low cast car was supposedly being produced from this CHennai plant? What happens to that now?

amitpunjani · 13th February 2009, 14:06

seems, its gone down the drain

fx45 · 13th February 2009, 14:06

Amongst the Logan customers, the worst hit would be MERU and other cab companies which has purchased Logans in large quantities, in thousands i mean.

aaggoswami · 13th February 2009, 15:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by vasudeva

European car makers have a tendency to overprice, under deliver, and generally assume a superior air.

Logan was a decent product for the price. For those not liking it looks, the price made up. When a two-decade old design (M-800) can work in India, why not a relatively recent Logan.

And then suffer. Peugeot, Fiat are good examples. The worst part is those who bought their cars will be suffering more.

Logan was a decent product, agreed, but was horribly overpriced. Maruti 800 comes in Hatchback segment and its priced low. Thats why it was still selling. Now even that legend is out of top 10 selling car list.
For Logan, Indigo made the deal look horrible. Indigo offered almost all the things along with a wider service network, good motors as compared to Renault at almost the same price. Add to that Indigo is a proved car. Then came Swift Dzire. This was the final blow to Logan. This made the logan look highly overpriced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raul

Renault should get their better models here like Clio and Megane, the Indian car market is maturing and this low cost stuff just ends up being marketing and very poor value for money.

And by launching Logan first they have anyway dented their brand value.

Renault would price Clio at the level of Fabia and Megan sedan at Rs. 14 lakh along with Jetta and yell in media that they are offering European quality.
Logan was the biggest mistake to be made by renault. They have better diesels, but did not bring them. A better diesel motor could have helped logan a bit.

But at the end of the day, I consider that Renault's Indian venture as a failure. Purely becasue of their over-confident attitude ( may I add arrogance ) they failed.

StarScream · 13th February 2009, 15:37

Honda is also thinking of cutting back on India expansion, see this:

Bloomberg.com: Asia

theMAG · 13th February 2009, 16:06

This isnt surprising news at all. For a company whose India policy wasnt well defined - starting from an over-priced cave-on-wheels to the divorce with Mahindra, its just a matter of time if they plan to continue with just the one product that currently the taxi segment buys mainly.

downsouth · 13th February 2009, 16:14

with THEMAG below, when a relative wanted to buy a car for his dad, even a suggestion of the Logan got me dirty stares. His logic was simple, the logan has turned out to be a fleet car, tell me how many people will want to buy it now.

Logan is a great deisel car, VFM but Renault did not have a good strategy for India. The article still does not talk about the Logan, only the chennai plant. Times are tough, maybe it was the right move for them.

joslicx · 13th February 2009, 16:15

Anybody cares to explain why there are no French cars in US? I mean they have cars from pretty much all over the world (Italian, Japanese, Korean, German, English etc) but French ones seem the only large auto makers non existant in US.

Has anybody seen any Peugoets or Citroens or Renaults in US? I didnt spot even a single one (in CA, NJ and Florida)

finneyp · 13th February 2009, 16:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Peugeot, Fiat are good examples.

Why are you dragging Fiat here?

Though Fiat didn't do well in the past, they never left the Indian market and their customers in the lurch.
They stood by in the thick & thin as Redliner mentioned before and now they are doing pretty good!

Yes, Peugot is a bad example you can quote!

bhp1 · 13th February 2009, 17:31

It seems Carols Ghosn magic hasn't worked in India! To begin with Renault seemed to make the right moves, but probably faltered with Logans design, which completely lacks flair expected of modern designs. Maybe Renault just fell in the jinx in which European manufacturers find themselves in India. Somehow, no other manufacturer has been able to break the Indian market, the way Japanese have, they have moved from strength to strength. Europeans would have done good by just following them, like Koreans have, but they never parted with their own Philosophy's!

Zappo · 13th February 2009, 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhp1

It seems Carols Ghosn magic hasn't worked in India! To begin with Renault seemed to make the right moves, but probably faltered with Logans design, which completely lacks flair expected of modern designs...

A small correction. Carlos Ghosn runs Nissan and not Renault. Carlos is yet to start trying in India, so its not yet time to give a verdict on his success in the Indian market.

bhp1 · 13th February 2009, 18:00

Yes Im aware of that, but Renault & Nissan are in JV Worldover with Ghosn probably heading both! During talks with M&M too, one could see Ghosn playing an active part. Even Anand Mahindra commented on his scuttling Maruti!
Otherwise also, Teanna & X-Trail haven't done any good for Nissans point of view.

Fact:
Prior to joining Nissan, Ghosn had served as executive vice president of the Renault Group, a position he had held since December 1996. In addition to supervising Renault activities in the Mercosur, he was responsible for advanced research, car engineering and development, car manufacturing, powertrain operations and purchasing. He became president of Renault in April 2005.

WheelWake · 13th February 2009, 19:00

Hey I heard Nissan is also 'reviewing' its India plans. I guess they forget that there very few auto markets which are growing and this is probably a good place to be. Although margin might not be as great as in their european markets. However, they need to understand the Indian market as a whole before they make further plans.

Sorry for being OT.

13th February 2009, 13:19	#17
raul BHPian Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pune Posts: 920 Thanked: 372 Times	Renault should get their better models here like Clio and Megane, the Indian car market is maturing and this low cost stuff just ends up being marketing and very poor value for money. And by launching Logan first they have anyway dented their brand value. Anyway the Indian consumer gets taken for granted on many parameters inpiste of paying top dollar and only serious car makers with a strategy for India will survive.
	() Thanks

13th February 2009, 13:31	#18
amtak Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai - The city of Sea Link!!! Posts: 2,915 Thanked: 900 Times View My Garage	Wasn't BAJAJ's low cast car was supposedly being produced from this CHennai plant? What happens to that now?
	() Thanks

13th February 2009, 14:06	#19
amitpunjani BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 451 Thanked: 109 Times	seems, its gone down the drain
	() Thanks

13th February 2009, 14:06	#20
fx45 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,823 Thanked: 384 Times	Amongst the Logan customers, the worst hit would be MERU and other cab companies which has purchased Logans in large quantities, in thousands i mean.
	() Thanks

13th February 2009, 15:37	#22
StarScream Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Noida/Delhi Posts: 1,263 Thanked: 665 Times	And now Honda as well... Honda is also thinking of cutting back on India expansion, see this: Bloomberg.com: Asia
	() Thanks

13th February 2009, 16:06	#23
theMAG Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Avon, CT Posts: 7,217 Thanked: 1,807 Times View My Garage	This isnt surprising news at all. For a company whose India policy wasnt well defined - starting from an over-priced cave-on-wheels to the divorce with Mahindra, its just a matter of time if they plan to continue with just the one product that currently the taxi segment buys mainly.
	() Thanks

13th February 2009, 16:14	#24
downsouth BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: 0.1933333, 32.58333 Posts: 357 Thanked: 23 Times	with THEMAG below, when a relative wanted to buy a car for his dad, even a suggestion of the Logan got me dirty stares. His logic was simple, the logan has turned out to be a fleet car, tell me how many people will want to buy it now. Logan is a great deisel car, VFM but Renault did not have a good strategy for India. The article still does not talk about the Logan, only the chennai plant. Times are tough, maybe it was the right move for them.
	() Thanks

13th February 2009, 16:15	#25
joslicx Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,286 Thanked: 1,011 Times	Anybody cares to explain why there are no French cars in US? I mean they have cars from pretty much all over the world (Italian, Japanese, Korean, German, English etc) but French ones seem the only large auto makers non existant in US. Has anybody seen any Peugoets or Citroens or Renaults in US? I didnt spot even a single one (in CA, NJ and Florida)
	() Thanks

13th February 2009, 17:31	#27
bhp1 BANNED Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: NA Posts: 513 Thanked: 4 Times	It seems Carols Ghosn magic hasn't worked in India! To begin with Renault seemed to make the right moves, but probably faltered with Logans design, which completely lacks flair expected of modern designs. Maybe Renault just fell in the jinx in which European manufacturers find themselves in India. Somehow, no other manufacturer has been able to break the Indian market, the way Japanese have, they have moved from strength to strength. Europeans would have done good by just following them, like Koreans have, but they never parted with their own Philosophy's!
	() Thanks

13th February 2009, 18:00	#29
bhp1 BANNED Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: NA Posts: 513 Thanked: 4 Times	Yes Im aware of that, but Renault & Nissan are in JV Worldover with Ghosn probably heading both! During talks with M&M too, one could see Ghosn playing an active part. Even Anand Mahindra commented on his scuttling Maruti! Otherwise also, Teanna & X-Trail haven't done any good for Nissans point of view. Fact: Prior to joining Nissan, Ghosn had served as executive vice president of the Renault Group, a position he had held since December 1996. In addition to supervising Renault activities in the Mercosur, he was responsible for advanced research, car engineering and development, car manufacturing, powertrain operations and purchasing. He became president of Renault in April 2005. Last edited by bhp1 : 13th February 2009 at 18:06. Reason: Adding facts.
	() Thanks

13th February 2009, 19:00	#30
WheelWake BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Mumbai Posts: 195 Thanked: 36 Times	Hey I heard Nissan is also 'reviewing' its India plans. I guess they forget that there very few auto markets which are growing and this is probably a good place to be. Although margin might not be as great as in their european markets. However, they need to understand the Indian market as a whole before they make further plans. Sorry for being OT.
	() Thanks