The envious position of India in car export will be a threat to its neighbor China, observe the analysts in the industry. The executive VP of Renault (Asia and Africa) an ex-head of Dongfeng Motor of China, admits that the Chinese manufacturing feeds the demand of its domestic market with huge output of cars. He boasts that the Chinese market has the unrivalled potential, even better than the West, and the country first caters to the domestic market rather than the export. To adduce this, Nissan plant runs 300 days in a year with two-hour overtime but still not in a position to meet the local demand. He feels that Korea happens to be good position as the biggest locale and is more potential than China.
For Renault, China is a kind dearth and in 2008 it could muster a sale of 800 cars and in2009 the number increased to 6000. This growth is promising for Renault and another big market for the company is Iran. However, Renault’s current apple of the eye is the Indian market where the modalities to meet the local demands are expedited, he said. Once the Indian market is established, the focus will be on the export, he assured. The recent Auto Expo at Delhi proved to be a good platform for Renault to showcase its Twizy Z E(electric version) and two-seater concept car. The car will be put for testing the needs before it goes for commercial production.
Renault has enfolded some 30 + cities for running the electric version of its cars and it will take some time to bring it into India, he said. The government’s cooperation and support is very essential for launching electric vehicles, he pointed out. Renault has in store four versions of electric cars and as such there is no proposal to bring in any of these into India, he asserted. Renault’s Fluence is one of the two models to be delivered from its Chennai plant. The electric version of this Fluence is coming from Turkey.