Entry level compact sedans have been the silver lining of the dark clouds that are hovering over the auto sector and the economy in general. It was the Amaze that pushed Honda into a higher orbit. The DZire too performed a similar role for Maruti-Suzuki and is helping the manufacturer post an upward trend in these times of gloom.
To cash in on this booming segment, Nissan-Renault alliance is chalking out strategies to corner both Honda and Maruti-Suzuki in their own games. According to a report by Telegraph India, Nissan-Renault is planning the sedan-ised avatars of their Micra hatchback which will also percolate to the Pulse.
Telegraph India claims that they have sourced the info from people engaged in the design unit of the alliance. The work on the sedan designs is progressing, and no final design has been agreed upon.
Renault feels that a competitively priced sedan with sporty looks will definitely attract young buyers towards he company. The materializing of the plans for the Micra and Pulse based sedans could take at least two years, but the design unit says it can be done earlier as well.
For the record, the entry-level sedan segment has been the turnaround medium for both Honda as well as Maruti-Suzuki and we already have country’s second largest manufacturer Hyundai planning to take a plunge with the compact sedan version of their Grand i10 hatchback which will be launched on the 3rd of September. Apart from that we also have reports of Tata preparing a chopped version of their Manza which may be launched sometime next year.
The obvious positioning of these under-planning sedans will be under the Sunny and Scala. So, its a lot happening in the ‘compact’ segments of India. Will Renault-Nissan be able to pull this off?
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