Auto Expo 2018: Renault showcases electric sports cars Trezor and Zoe

Says India forms an important part of the company's growth strategy and it has invested heavily to ensure a strong foundation in this challenging and dynamic market

French auto major Renault on Wednesday showcased its global prowess with the Trezor, an all-electric Grand Tourer concept car, at the Auto Expo 2018. The company also showcased the electric vehicle Zoe, an e-sport Concept.

Fabrice Cambolive, Renault’s senior vice-president, and chairman for Africa-Middle-East-India (AMI) region, said 2017 was a record year for Groupe Renault, with sales of nearly 3.8 million vehicles globally. Over the past 5 years, we have consistently increased our global sales volumes. There is an increasing contribution from markets outside Europe, which is a testament to our global growth ambitions taking shape. India forms an important part of this growth strategy and we have invested heavily to ensure a strong foundation in this challenging and dynamic market. We have successfully established the Renault brand in India in a short span. We will continue to work towards increasing our sales volume and market share here, aided by our strategy of range renewal and quick network expansion.”

Sumit Sawhney, country CEO and managing director, Renault India Operations, said: “The transformation to electric cars is inevitable in India, and this gives a great opportunity to the automotive industry. It is time for the government to put in place a clear policy, timeframe and necessary infrastructure to enable automobile OEMs to be adequately prepared and take strategic long-term decisions. 

Renault is the EV leader in Europe, with comprehensive knowledge of advanced and affordable EV technology that we can harness through our technology centre in India. 

"We have already made our presence strong in the focal segments of India’s automotive market and are future-ready to build our range, in keeping with evolving market needs and conditions.”

Sharing details, Laurens van den Acker, senior vice-president (Corporate Design), Groupe Renault, said: “India is one of our biggest international markets. Since Renault is synonymous with design, we have opened two design centres in India. Early last year, we launched an exciting initiative, ‘Design Academy India’, on the basis of which we selected four talented candidates from more than 400 online applications. We are very proud to be presenting their projects here on our stand today. You will see four 1:5 scale models and one full-scale model. And we are also very proud to announce that we have hired three of the four trainees at our design centre in India!”

Apart from Trezor, Zoe e-sport concept and the design corner, the Renault pavilion at Auto Expo 2018 presented the Formula One racing car, RS17 and the complete India range led by the newly launched Captur and Kwid Super Hero Edition, together with Duster and Lodgy. 

Renault Zoe

Speaking about Captur, Sawhney said the company was still in the launch phase, having just introduced the petrol variant. 

Over the past few years, Renault has focused on establishing a strong base in India. Together with a strong product offensive strategy led by the Kwid and the recently launched stylish SUV, Captur.