The small car segment is the hot favourite for all the automotive OEMs and every company is eyeing to pitch their models in that segment to gain sales volumes. One such company is the French car maker, Renault who is planning to go big in the small car segment by planning to invest to the tune of Rs. 10,335 crores in India. Currently the company is in talks with the Gujarat state government for acquisition of land as a part of its plan to setup a factory.
“The company held a closed-door meeting with top government officials a couple of weeks back. They are exploring possibilities of setting up a plant here,” Gujarat government official said.
The official, on the conditions of anonymity also added that the company is preferably looking for a land near Vadodara for its close proximity to ports and they have plans to export the manufactured cars from here to overseas markets. The huge investment being planned by the company includes setting up a new manufacturing plant, development of a vendor base near the plant and also project development costs. The plant is supposed to go operational by the year 2015. Another official having first hand information of the matter also added that the plant will have a production capacity of about 400,000 cars per year. The small car project will be headed by Mr. Detourbet, head of Renault’s entry level division. Mr. Detourbet was the man behind the creation of the global best selling low cost car, the Logan. The small car is going be designed by Renault’s design centre in Mumbai and the entire small car project will be developed in India. The official commented that the company’s idea is to develop a small car for the Indian market and also to export to outside countries where there is a demand for such cars. On a note of clarification, this small car project has no relation to the partnership with Bajaj Auto to develop an ULC (ultra low cost) car for the Indian market.
