[devarshi84]

AFAIK, Renault put a hold on the plans due to the economic downturn and the news said they are bringing in another sedan to complement the Logan.

Nissan is a fool. They never setup more dealerships for their sales to increase. two big dealers in Ahmedabad ran up and down for Nissan dealership. Gave up in a few months.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by amitpunjani

DNA: Money: Renault may drive out of Chennai project

"Renault may pull out of a joint factory project in Chennai, India, with Japanese affiliate Nissan. It's possible that we abandon the project completely.,".

The second French automaker to abandon their plans for India, after Peugeot - thank god there are only two of them!

The problem with the French is that they think they're too good for everyone else. Perhaps they're too good for themselves.

Pretty soon they will be like the little gaulish village in Armorica - holding fort proudly in their little corner of the world.

Trouble is, they're looking more like the Pirates who get scuttled in every story than like Asterix and his friends!



On the brighter side, we will now be spared from their ridiculous French Design experiments like the Logan and will only have to live with the likes of the Xylo from now on.

[greenhorn]

I'm reminded more of the french knight in the fort in Monty Python and the holy grail

King Arthur:
What are you then?
French Soldier:
I'm French. Why do think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king.
Sir Galahad:
What are you doing in England?
French Soldier:
Mind your own business.
-----
French Soldier:
You don't frighten us, English pig-dog! Go and boil your bottoms, son of a silly person. I blow my nose on you, so-called Arthur-king, you and your silly English kiniggets

YouTube - French Taunting - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

[lurker]

Renault is not leaving India, just postponing its small car plans in light of the French Govt financial assistance terms to the company.

Renault will still keep producing from the Mahindra plant which currently produces Logan and in future will produce Sandero and Megane.

[mxx]

Originally Posted by Zappo

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.

He heads both companies.
Refer wikipedia article : Carlos Ghosn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
which says "He is the current CEO and President of Renault of France and Nissan of Japan"

[palioman]

Originally Posted by hotpursuit

Rightly said. No wonder the cars from Renault are referred to as "Surrender Monkeys" by Jeremy Clarkson in Top Gear

Very true.
for all of Fiat's follies and trauma, they still hung on even though they were much derided. Kudos to them,a majority of team bhp members have a soft corner for them , and why not, they make cars with passion. If only their marketing department lived upto the lofty standards set by their engineering and design departments.
French always seem to runaway from a fight ( remember World War II ? )
Exactly. !

[Joz]

I guess this is not really about one car manufacturer failing in India. The situation out there is real bad for almost every volume car manufacturer. The global auto market is expected to contract by over 5 million over the next couple of years - a conservative estimate!

It simply doesn't make sense to go about building additional capacity in this scenario. And this to me is not about India. 20,000 job cuts globally, halt on new plants in other markets, first ever loss for Nissan in 14 years! Viability is what CEOs are looking for and may be it is decisions like these that will set Mr. Ghosn apart.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Joz

I guess this is not really about one car manufacturer failing in India. The situation out there is real bad for almost every volume car manufacturer.

20,000 job cuts globally, halt on new plants in other markets, first ever loss for Nissan in 14 years! Viability is what CEOs are looking for and may be it is decisions like these that will set Mr. Ghosn apart.

But Renault is in bigger trouble in India because of a product not so good and wrong attitude. Look at Hyundai, a brand now second only to Maruti. Look at honda, they are not very badly affected by recession in India.
Yes, its true that globally automotive manufacturers are not in the best of their health, but Renault India could have been in better situation and I believe could have helped the company a bit if they were able to establish them well.

And forget Nissan, Toyota is losing money for the first time in 50+ years !

[chetan]

i dont understand why the teamed up with mahindra in the first place , I'm not saying its a bad thing but instead of launching the logan as their first car in India, they should have come out with the clio or megane .

[devarshi84]

yep, I totally agree with Chetan. Renault should have brought in a Lifestyle car first like Volkswagen did and then gone down the portfolio. Even now they can get install more powerful engines and add the mostly basic feature which are missing for a slightly higher price and survive.

But being with Mahindra is not a bad thing in my opinion.

[bhp1]

Originally Posted by mxx

He heads both companies.
Refer wikipedia article : Carlos Ghosn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
which says "He is the current CEO and President of Renault of France and Nissan of Japan"

Yes, Ghosn heads both Renault & Nissan.
His magic & superman status have taken a hit recently!

[ashutoshb]

Renault will stick to Chennai plan

“We are serious about our plans for the country as well as the alliance with Nissan to produce cars in the Chennai facility. Things do not look very good right now for carmakers across the world and Renault is, therefore, being cautious,” the Managing Director of Renault India, Mr Sylvain Bilaine, told Business Line.

“There are dark clouds now but these will soon pass and we will be back on our feet with the Chennai project,” he added.

On Thursday, agency reports from Paris suggested that Renault would drop out of this mega plan, (which will see manufacture of 400,000 cars by 2015) but Mr Bilaine said this issue had been blown out of context.
Full article: The Hindu Business Line : Renault will stick to Chennai plan

Hope this settles the rumours!

Also, Renault is here as two separate entities. One with Mahindra, as Mahindra-Renault and the other is with Nissan. The chennai plant is a joint venture of Renault and Nissan (Mahindra was there too, but it parted ways from this plant later). Even if the Chennai plant do not start its operations, it will not affect the Logan. Because, Mahindra-Renault is a separate entity and the Logan is produced in the Nashik plant.

[aaggoswami]

Some news I came across.
I dont know what does this mean. I heard they are bringing in the Megane, and now this is the news. Looks like they have lost interest in Indian market.

Source : Renault to miss 2010 deadline of launching cars in India

Article :

NEW DELHI: French auto major Renault has temporarily put on hold its plans to launch cars in India by 2010 in the wake of the global slowdown as the company has decided to hold back on investments on assembly line at its Chennai plant.

The company, which had last year announced a Rs 4,500- crore investment over a period of seven years to produce four lakh cars annually in an alliance with its Japanese group company Nissan, has now stopped hiring for production activities and is awaiting for market conditions to improve.

"Renault's investment on production plant in Chennai is being temporarily frozen and what we will miss out is Renault cars coming out in the Indian market by 2010," a senior Renault India official said.

The company had originally planned to roll out cars based on four platforms from the Chennai plant, in which it will have a production capacity of 2 lakh and the rest with Nissan.

Asked how much investments have been held back, he declined to give a specific number but said: "Already Rs 900 crore has been invested on the plant by Renault and Nissan together. The freezing is only on the production line of Renault but other infrastructure development of the plant is continuing."

[kreddy]

Originally Posted by fx45

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.

I see that all new meru cabs are Tata Indigo Marina's in Bangalore.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

Also, Renault is here as two separate entities. One with Mahindra, as Mahindra-Renault and the other is with Nissan. The chennai plant is a joint venture of Renault and Nissan (Mahindra was there too, but it parted ways from this plant later). Even if the Chennai plant do not start its operations, it will not affect the Logan. Because, Mahindra-Renault is a separate entity and the Logan is produced in the Nashik plant.

According to reports, there's a question mark about the Mahindra-Renault JV as well. It's not doing well, with Logan sales failing to pick up.