Renault to launch five new cars in India

New Delhi: European carmaker Renault will launch five cars in India in the next three years. This apart, the company also plans to introduce a small car in India which it is developing in alliance with its Japanese partner Nissan.

All the cars, including the small car will be produced at Nissan's factory in Chennai.

Renault India country manager Marc Nassif said the small car, which is expected to be introduced after 2013 will be priced "competitively" and will compete with the existing cars in the B-Plus, or premium hatchback, segment. "We are working on a small car.

There's a huge effort being made and we might use a Nissan platform for our car," Nassif said on the sidelines of the annual conference of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

However Renault India's chief executive officer Sudhir Rao told reporters on the sidelines of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) summit in New Delhi that the company was still at the concept and design stage for the small car that would fit the requirements of the Indian market.

Nassif said the new launches will begin with the Fluence sedan to be launched by 2011. After the Fluence the company will introduce its sports utility vehicle Koleos in the same year.
 
Nassif said that among the five cars to be launched in India, one would be a hatchback priced in the Rs 3.5-5 lakh range.