New Delhi: France-based carmaker Renault has grown its penetration in rural and semi-urban areas in India from 7% in FY20 to about 38% in FY23. In the long run, it goals at a ‘good combine’ of gross sales coming from the agricultural, semi-urban and concrete areas.
“We now have optimised our infrastructure to strengthen our presence in smaller cities. We now have taken initiatives like organising the Gramin Mahotsav and employed Resident Sellers’ Gross sales Executives (RDSEs) who’re the locals of their cities,” Sudhir Malhotra, Vice President- Gross sales & Advertising and marketing, Renault India, mentioned.
Holding a market share of about 2% within the Indian passenger car trade, the maker of Kwid offered about 79,000 models in the course of the fiscal 12 months ended March 2023. Of this, about 30,000 models have been offered in rural areas and about 49,000 models within the city areas. This is a rise from FY20 when nearly 6,000 models have been offered in rural areas whereas the city clocked gross sales of about 83,000 models.
In 2022, the automaker tied up with CSC e-Gramin facilities to supply potential prospects for its sellers. As part of the partnership, Renault’s product vary is listed on the eStores and made obtainable to potential prospects within the hinterlands by means of village stage entrepreneurs (VLEs), who will additional generate enquiries, and facilitate the sale to finish prospects by means of the help of respective firm dealerships.
CSC Grameen eStore is an e-commerce initiative by CSC (below the Ministry of Electronics and Info Know-how) to advertise digital order and supply processes in rural areas.
Renault, which at present sells the Kwid, Triber and Kiger, has a dealership community in over 400 cities throughout the nation. Earlier, it initiated tasks like ‘Vistaar’ and ‘Rural Float’ to push rural gross sales.
With its ‘Showroom on Wheels’ and ‘Workshop on Wheels’ initiatives, the corporate mentioned it’s going to present on spot check drive, reserving and automobile finance choices in 625 new areas.
“With this, we intention to interrupt limitations and attain out to prospects in each nook of the nation,” Malhotra mentioned.
Trying forward
In February this 12 months, Renault and Japanese automaker Nissan collectively introduced new investments of INR 53,000 crore within the Indian market. It goals to usher in six new domestically produced merchandise, together with two small electrical vehicles. Of the six automobiles deliberate, three can be every for Nissan and Renault.
With the brand new funding, the 2 corporations additionally rejigged their shareholding construction. Renault Nissan Automotive India Non-public Ltd (RNAIPL) moved to an possession of 51% Nissan and 49% Renault.
The French carmaker is gearing as much as get again to the midsize SUV section, the place it used to promote the Duster. At present, Hyundai’s Creta is the market chief within the section. Apart from, Kia sells the Seltos, Maruti Suzuki provides the Grand Vitara, Toyota City Cruiser Hyryder, Honda Elevate, Volkswagen Taigun, Skoda Kushaq, amongst others.
At present, Renault exports Kwid, Triber and Kiger to 14 international locations together with South Asian Affiliation for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) international locations, Asia Pacific area, South Africa, and East Africa area.
The carmaker is constructive in regards to the passenger car development outlook, and sees no main headwinds for the upcoming months.