Renault revives plans for India to regain market share
Import tariffs on cars from EU to drop
Renault betting on India to grow outside Europe
Recasts throughout with executive comments, details on India plans
By Aditi Shah and Gilles Guillaume
CHENNAI/PARIS, Jan 27 (Reuters) - India has become a top priority for Renault because of the market's potential for growth and increasing accessibility for European Union firms after their trade deal, the French carmaker's chief growth officer said on Tuesday.
Renault RENA.PA is making a comeback in India with a new strategy as it looks to the world's third-largest car market for growth outside Europe.
This renewed focus coincides with a trade deal between India and the EU that will lead to a significant cut in import tariffs on cars from Europe, opening up the South Asian market for European car companies.
"India was perhaps not in the top one priority in the last four years but will become it because of this getting closer strategy, the strength of our people there and the potential of market growth," Fabrice Cambolive told Reuters.
On Monday, the carmaker put its India ambition on display at an event in southern Chennai city where it relaunched its most popular nameplate in the country - the Duster SUV. But it faces tough competition with homegrown brands Tata Motors TAMO.NS and Mahindra & Mahindra MAHM.NS expanding their portfolio with new SUVs that have stand-out designs and the latest technology.
"You are not the main player but you want to be a kind of brilliant outsider. We are somewhere coming back and we want to be a great outsider," Cambolive said.
What will help Renault stand out is its popular hybrid car technology, which it will bring to India, and its work with Google to provide in-car connectivity, which Cambolive hopes to expand in India with the company's local engineering talent.
Cambolive said Renault had also learnt from past mistakes of not refreshing and updating its product portfolio, which cost the company lost sales and market share. He said it was already developing two more products for India with more to come until 2030.
"If we just launched the Duster and nothing happened in the next four years it's not a consistent strategy. We'll come back soon with some other models," he said, adding that the mid-size and compact SUV segments will remain "very hot" for the future.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah in Chennai and Gilles Guillaume in Paris; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Alison Williams)
((aditi.shah@tr.com; +91-11-4954 8023, +91-11-3015 8023; Reuters Messaging: twitter: @aditishahsays))