Renault is expected to launch the Megane next year followed by the next-gen Duster in 2025 and Kwid EV a year later
According to a recent report that emerged on the internet, Renault-Nissan Alliance’s upcoming range of passenger cars will have high local content. While cross-badging will continue to be the key strategy followed, the differences between the vehicles will be good enough to set them apart as the partnership looks to build on the success of the Kiger and Magnite.
While admitting that the Pulse, Scala and Fluence were failures, Renault India’s Managing Director and CEO Venkatram Mamillapalle told ET that the Nissan Terrano did not perform as well as its donor, the Renault Duster, due to the minor differences between them. Talking about future vehicles, he further noted:
“From there, we are going to the next level of maturity when we say we will bring a new platform which will underpin vehicles for the Renault Nissan Alliance, the vehicles will be absolutely different.” Earlier this year, the alliance announced that it would invest Rs. 5,300 crore in its local operations to bring up new products for the domestic and global markets.
It had also been confirmed that as many as six brand new vehicles will arrive over the next few years – four of them will be SUVs and the remaining EVs – without specifying what they are. The report further said that the new models will be launched starting next year and the new strategy could unravel with the debut of the Megane, mostly the E-Tech.
It could be brought into the country via CBU route and perhaps sold in limited numbers. It will more likely be followed by the next generation Duster by the middle of this decade. It will reportedly sit on the heavily localised CMF-B platform as the locally produced models will have localisation as high as 90 per cent.
The second generation Renault Duster for India could be offered in five- and seven-seater configurations and its design will more likely be based on the Dacia Bigster concept. It could be followed by the electric version of the Kwid hatchback in 2026. The locally manufactured models will also be exported to many RHD markets.