ONE-ON-ONE ‘India to be one of top 10 Renault mkts’

French Co Eyes Surge In SUV, MPV Demand Chennai: He has just launched the SUV Duster in India and is talking of making the country one of Renault's top-10 markets in the next two years. In an interview with TOI, Marc Nassif, country MD, Renault India, talks about the drive into the future. Excerpts:  First the Koleos and now the Duster — is Renault focusing more on the SUV/MPV segment than the hatch market?  Obviously, MPV is a segment we are looking at in a very big way. Ditto for SUVs. But we are also looking at small hatchbacks and more sedans. Right now, we have products for the second half of the market but we need to be in the first half as well. Our Pulse starts at around Rs 4.8 lakh; we will go below that price range. That segment commands half the market and we want to go there.  After Logan, Duster is the second Dacia product that you have introduced in India. Are you also considering other Dacia models like Lodgy or its variant  Dokker?  The Duster sold under the Dacia brand is based on a Renault platform and, for the Indian market, we've taken that and added, adapted and modified it to make it desirable in India. In fact, if you look at the Duster sold elsewhere and compare it with what we've launched here, it's not the same. As for the Lodgy and Dokker, it is part of the things we are studying. But the product as it is sold right now is not what we would be interested in. We are looking at whether it can be adapted and what can be made of it. When and where …well all I can say is there's more to come.  Renault global COO Carlos Tavares talked about  Russia, India and Brazil  driving Renault's out-of-Europe push. How crucial is India in that equation? Is  Renault looking at expanding capacity here?  Next year or the year after, India should enter the top 10 markets for Renault, depending upon how the market performs. So, we will go from almost nothing two years ago to one of the top 10 in less than five years, which is a clear indication of where we think we can go in India. We believe we can do that by bringing in good products and expanding the network from just 14 in May 2011 to 55 now and 100 by the end of this year. Our earlier target was 70 by 2013, but we have brought it forward. As for expansion, yes, we will but the when and where is still to be decided. Clearly when we are talking more volumes and exports we will need capacity but first we must fulfill our Chennai promise. Marc Nassif COUNTRY MD, RENAULT INDIA