Renault, the French car maker, is on the look out for ideal allies to take on the torch of electric car project in India. Renault is now a single company, having come off from a tie-up with M& M for Logan and is in the process of entering the electric car project. By this move, Renault has to give up its 49% stake for M&M and M&M will continue to run with Logan in the Indian market.
The most probable candidate for this proposal may be Reva from Bangalore. Renault is likely to offer the care of infrastructure like charging stations and battery leasing services to the partners. In spite of the full fledged move in the electric car market, Renault is in need of certain governmental flexibilities and concessions. Renault is a prominent name in the electric car sector with its kangoo intra-city goods mover, Zoe mid-sized sedan and Twizy two-seater concept car. In addition Renault is making efforts to get a lending hand from the technical institutes for this electric car project.
Fluence will be on sale in India from next year, as a tie-up product with Nissan (which has 44% stake). The car is to be manufactured from the newly constructed facility near Chennai having a capacity of 4 lakh units per year. The unit is ideally set for making Nissan’s Micra and Renault’s Koleos. By now the JV is on the look out for penetrating dealer network in the country. Joining Renault in this electric vehicle market will be Nissan whose electric car might hit the Indian roads by 2012. Similar to Renault, everything on this electric car depends much on the incentives offered by the government, said MD &CEO of Nissan Motor India. Renault’s Fluence electric version is on the launching pad in Israel and Denmark under a partnership with Betterplace.
Renault’s strategy for global deal is to identify strong local partner for infrastructure facilities. The JV between Renault and Nissan is vigorously crafting the electric vehicle concept aided by a strong technical team. The cars are powered by the batteries derived from AESC, which is a Nissan-NEC joint venture. The Indian pioneer in electric vehicles, Reva and other companies are lobbying the Indian government for necessary tax reduction and incentives. The companies feel that without the necessary government support and help, it would be too difficult to devise a good electric vehicle project. Reva stands as the pioneer in electric vehicles in India despite a sale of over 3500 units in the last 8 years. The electric vehicles are handicapped by less interior space, power and restrained drive for long distances, due to single charge. However, Reva is lighting its show with its tie up with Dilip Chhabria the auto designer for making scintillating looks. Also there is a tie-up with General Motors India for making the powerful play for Spark and Beat.