This segment of the presentation began with a initial address by Marc Nassif, MD Renault India who maintained that India is a fast track growth story for Renault and is now 11th largest market. That's quite amazing considering that it did it with mainly Nissan models, Duster excepted.
We were then take through the Renault story by the executive director marketing Sumit Sahwney (ex GM)
Renault has become the 8th largest company in 2 years. (however, the gap between 1st /2nd and 8th is massive!)
What Renault really looked into were the demographics
- 75% rural
- 50% less than 25 years of age - no other place in the world
- 22% middle class
Indian Society is rooted - people look for the best. The Renault brand in India is positioned that people should expect more of of life. It should be an accessible premium brand. Renault are very focused on the first time buyer. Price not the only factor. Indians do not want cheap, old products,
The following are the areas that Renault plan to leverage for for its brand positioning
- Design
- Innovation
- Quality
- Powertrain efficiency
- Design environment
- Eco - friendly
Renault claimed the following achievements:
Renault committed and delivered 5 products in 18 months. (The Duster was the main achievement, the mass market products are s dependent on re-badged Nissan products - but they do not mention this!)
- In terms of dealers, from 7 partners to 35 partners with almost 100 outlets in two years. Renault are currently focusing on expanding dealer network. This is key to gain 15%.
- Duster had 36 specific changes for India (I will discuss this in a separate thread)
- K9k dci engine - second best selling diesel engine in India
- Only manufacturer to offer 4 yr warranty
In terms of sales, the sales figures are as follows:
2011 - 1400 cars
2012 - 35000
2013 - 70000 (estimated)
This has led to a 2.6 % market share
The products cover 37 % of the market segment and span 85% of India's market reach.
Renault 2013 priorities
- Drive Renault brand to greater heights
- Increase accessibility to customer
- Improve customer satisfaction
The products will share different platforms and sub assemblies as long as customers are happy, not confused
During the question and answer session, we asked a lot of questions about the brands cannabalising each other. The response was that Renault is more compared with Fiat, VW, Ford etc and Nissan is compared to Toyota and Hyundai.
The management claimed that the Scala/ Pulse carry Renault brand values. That got to me, so I challenged them that if you are so confident, would you sell these products in Europe as Renaults. They then backtracked and admitted that these models were developed on a limited budget to fill the India product line. Brand value is being focussed more on the experience than the product. If they really mean this, they need to do something really special.