Fluence Sales have hit rock bottom; we share full year sales and analyse the segment.
Fluence is Renault’s player in the D-sedan segment in India. No doubt it is underpowered but when you take into account the super-dud Corolla Altis which produces 88 PS Fluence appears to feel decent. But in terms of looks, it is really beautiful.
Nonetheless, why are we talking about it today is because for the first time in this financial year in February 2016, Renault could not sell a single unit of the car. Situation in January too was equally bad when Fluence sales stood at a single unit only!
In terms of production, according to the official SIAM sales data we have, Renault has not been producing it for quite some time, in fact we could not see a single unit produced within this financial year. Which means that they are clearing leftover stocks which may have been manufactured more than a year back.
To help in this Renault is offering massive benefits of Rs 4.5 lakhs on buying the Fluence. If we talk about the fiscal so far, Renault has sold just 113 units of the Fluence. Things were marginally better in the last fiscal when they managed to roll-out 227 units from their dealerships. Other cars in the segment like the Octavia and Corolla are still doing good numbers (2,413 and 5,922 respectively).
However, the segment as a whole has shrunk. From April to February 2014-15 the segment saw sales of 18,537 units, while within this fiscal the number has dropped to 13,950 – that’s a decrease of nearly 25 percent. Octavia, the best car in the segment, is the only product which has shown growth while others like the Corolla has (deservedly) dropped.
Fluence is powered by the familiar 1.5 litre K9K diesel engine in the 110 PS tune and returns a rated fuel efficiency of 20.4 kmpl. A petrol mill is not offered and it retails at a starting ex-showroom Delhi price tag of Rs 14.72 lakhs.
Also Read: Renault Duster: New vs Old – Price Difference & Variant Rejig Sheet
So with no production and now sales dipping to zero, will Renault axe it up or shall we expect something new in this segment?