French car major Renault today said it expects to double sales during the current year on the back of strong performance forecast of its newly-launched Kwid.
"Last year, we sold over 54,000 units (all brands). This year, we expect to double the figure. We will cross one lakh units by the end of the year (2016). Overwhelming response for Kwid and also new Duster launch are expected to push sales.
"By the end of next month, we will touch 10,000 units of Kwid. This month, we intend to sell 7,500," Sumit Sawhney, CEO and MD of Renault India told reporters here.
He said the company will start exporting Kwid to SAARC countries from next month and also has plans to export African countries as well.
The auto maker is all set to launch new Duster in three variants - 4X2, 4X4 and Duster Automated manual Transmission during the current year.
"We are working as close to achieve 5 per cent in overall market share in this year itself," he said, adding that the plant capacity has been expanded to 4.8 lakh vehicles per annum from 4 lakh.
On dealer network, he said the existing network of 205 will be expanded to 240 by the end of 2016.
"We have embarked on an aggressive network expansion plan and we aim to increase the dealerships to 240 by the end of 2016 covering 96 per cent of the market," he said.
Sawhney inaugurated a new dealership - Renault Begumpet here today.
"India is a very competitive market. Do I see really a
very strong future for SKD products? No. Even if I have the best product the cost will never justify. So we are transitioning from bridge strategy to mainstream strategy and with more cars coming up, we are right now in portfolio development mode," Sawhney said.
The company has already discontinued SKD products like Koleos and Fluence in the country and is focusing on 'Make in India' with Kwid having 98 per cent of localisation.
Commenting on the company's growth strategy, Sawhney said that with 5 per cent market share round the corner, the company would like to grow in a sustainable manner.
"By the end of 2017 we want to achieve 5 per cent market share. Now if I see today we have crossed 4.5 per cent market share. We are on track. More important to me is that Renault should grow on a sustained basis and achieve 5 per cent market share," he added.
Whether it's 5 per cent or 5.2 per cent market share or more it has to be done on a sustained basis, it's the first step and the company is absolutely on track to achieve that, he said.
"Then going forward every year we will be bringing a new car so I think at the same time we are increasing our dealer network, acceptability if Renault is growing, so clearly the future looks fairly promising and interesting for us," Sawhney said.
The company began the year with 205 outlets and by the end of the year it expects to have 270 outlets plus 25 workshops on wheels which is a new initiative to cover more geographical area.
Sawhney said that the acceptability of Renault brand is increasing as Kwid is successful not just in one or two states but all over the country.
"The company is growing very strongly and I am sure with this success 2017 will be an exciting year for us because people have started knowing Renault. I clearly see in coming years Renault being a strong player in India," he added.
