Before even the parents, Nissan or Datsun, of original redi-GO can give us a word on their plans, Renault’s sales chief, Jerome Stoll, it seems has stolen the show and has confirmed a Renault branded car for India.
Reports of Renault planning an India-specific model have been doing rounds for sometime now and these are possibly the more concrete bits coming from Jerome, who is also the executive vice-president of the company, in an interview to Economic Times. Renault India’s next small car is being developed by-the-Indian, for-the-Indian; as well as a few other emerging markets.
He said that this new car is unique and will be produced in India as well as Brazil and that is why they unveiled it in India at the 2014 Auto Expo and not any other show.
The only concept Renault had in their Expo stall was the kooky ‘Kwid’ which can just not be compressed into a ‘small car’ which Renault is hinting at. We then traversed their partners and the only car that fits the criteria is the Datsun’s redi-GO concept.
Redi-GO was a striking 5-door small hatchback concept showcased under the ‘Datsun’ brand by partners Nissan and Renault. Not many details were revealed by the company then. Redi-GO is a sub-Go hatch and will rival the smaller Nanos and Altos of our world.
Renault is seeing a fluctuating market for its Duster and the recent sales figures aren’t exactly upbeat. The company currently has about 2.5% of the overall market pie and is aiming for 5% in the short term. Renault plans to do this with a line-up of vehicles tailored specifically for India and other emerging markets. The development of this new small car is one step towards that goal and the launch is expected sometime in 2015.
Renault also plans to launch an MPV, which is also a fast-moving segment here in India. Unfortunately, the VP did not elaborate any further on either of these cars.
Related Reading: Speculation: Duster Facelift on the Roads Testing: Indian-Spec will be Different!
Rendering -> http://bit.ly/1swV6sx