Renault is banking on India to take its growth story forward in 2016.
According to the company, the Brazilian and Russian markets are expected to decline further, by 6 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. On the contrary, China (+4-5 per cent) and India (+8 per cent) will keep growing.
Renault made these projections while declaring its numbers for 2015 recently. Thierry Koskas, Executive Vice-President, Sales and Marketing said, “Building on the business momentum of the past three years, a product range largely updated in 2015 and 2016 and our expansion in India and China, our growth will accelerate in 2016 and we will improve our positions in all our regions.”
The French carmaker has noted that it remains the leading European automotive brand in India with sales up by 20.1 per cent. Kwid had a very promising start with more than 80,000 orders since its launch in September, it has stated. With 53,848 vehicles sold in 2015, India is the 13{+t}{+h} largest market for Renault. Brazil and Russia are in the second and eighth slots but all this could change in 2016 thanks to their wobbly economies.
On the contrary, India has not been such a bad performer.In addition, the good market response to the Kwid will ensure that the order book will be kept busy through 2016. For the moment, there is no reason to believe that car sales across the country will slow down unless there is another dry spell.
Renault is also keen on adding momentum to its Duster and Lodgy in India even as the Kwid remains the focus of its growth story in the coming months. Going forward, this compact could be exported to Brazil but this will depend on the revival of markets in Latin America, and if demand in India is met.