Chennai: Renault India Pvt. Ltd, currently holding less than 1% of the country’s car market, laid out on Tuesday ambitious plans to triple its market share in three-four years, driven by five new vehicle launches and an expanded dealer network.
The French carmaker’s aggressive plans come just weeks after it completed the acquisition of Japanese automaker Nissan’s stake in their manufacturing joint venture Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt. Ltd.
After this acquisition, Renault gained 100% control over the car manufacturing facility located in Tamil Nadu that has a capacity to produce more than 400,000 vehicles annually.
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“The acquisition will now help us bring decision-making under one leadership. Due to the presence of two companies, it used to take time to arrive at a common ground and then implement the decision,” Venkatram Mamillapalle, managing director and chief executive at Renault India, said in an interview.
By 2027, the company is planning five new launches, which will include two SUVs and an electric vehicle (EV). Moreover, it will also increase the number of dealerships from the current 362 touchpoints across the country.
The company, which entered the Indian market in 2005, is bringing a key change to its strategy to broaden its customer base and include more premium buyers.
“We have mostly targeted the sub- ₹10 lakh segment but now our customer profile will see a diversification to go beyond ₹10 lakh,” Mamillapalle said.
Along with its manufacturing unit, it has also consolidated its design centres into one in Chennai from two earlier. Through this centre, which is triple the size of its previous design studios, the company will design cars for the Indian and global markets.
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Renault India sold 38,636 cars in fiscal year 2025 (FY25), about 18% lower than the year prior.
Its market share also slipped below 1% to reach 0.93% during the year. This came at a time when India’s overall car market grew by almost 5% to record retail sales of 4.15 million units during FY25.
“Our objective is to increase volumes and utilize the capacity at our plant in Tamil Nadu fully. Increasing volumes will be a byproduct of gaining market share which we have to do,” Mamillapalle noted.
As part of its international plan, the Renault group has identified India as a priority market along with others like Brazil and South Korea.
In Renault group’s global sales, India is ranked 13th in its top 15 markets.
But increasing market share in a slowing car market is easier said than done, given the fact the country’s top five carmakers, led by Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors constituted more than 80% of sales in the last fiscal.
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Moreover, a slowdown in retail sales amid weak consumer sentiment has also increased inventory levels at dealerships from less than a fortnight for top players in January to around 50 days in March.
“The forecast for April and May appears bleak, as a decline in retail activity is anticipated,” analysts at PhillipCapital wrote in a 30 March note.
Mamillapalle, however, strikes an optimistic note.
“The income tax benefits from the government, repo rate cut by RBI and salary bonuses in next few months should help give car sales a boost,” he said.