Renault India puts brakes on 4 models amid poor sales

Renault India the local arm of the French carmaker, has confirmed that it has discontinued several models including the Pulse, Scala, Fluence and Koleos due to poor sales.

Renault now has only three models in its portfolio - Kwid, Duster and Lodgy, while the new Captur will be launched later this month. Renault would gradually build its portfolio of cars in India to script a consistent growth trajectory in the country, its top official said.

At the unveiling of the new Captur, Sumit Sawhney, managing director and chief executive of Renault India said, "Renault started operations in India six years back and now has a portfolio of three cars, Kwid, Duster and Lodgy, and will build it step-by-step. We want to expand our portfolio by launching one car each year."

He said that within six years, the company had become the seventh largest player with an annual sales of one lakh units and a market share of four per cent. While Kwid is positioned in the small car segment and the highest selling for Renault India, Duster and Lodgy are in the SUV and MPV segments.

Sawhney added that the price of its premium SUV Captur would be decided later. The car was expected to be launched by the end of this month.

He said the company was also aggressively expanding its network of dealers across the country. To a query, he said that in India, 70 per cent of the sales were in the sub-4 metre category, while the highest growth was in SUVs.

He said Renault India would explore more opportunities in the sub-4 metre segment, adding that the company was waiting for the right government policy decision to launch electric cars in the country.

With its production base in Chennai shared by Japanese partner Nissan, Renault India has two design centres in Mumbai and Chennai and one technology centre in Chennai.