Venkatram Mamillapalle, CEO & MD, Renault India Operations
French auto main Renault’s India production plans for the calendar 12 months 2023 has been hampered by the global semi-conductor shortage, mentioned CEO and MD Venkatram Mamillapalle.
“We cannot say that semiconductor shortage issue is over. It is there a little bit. But it is not as bad as last year,” Mr. Mamillapalle mentioned in an interview.
During CY22, Renault India bought over 1.14 lakh automobiles, of which 27,232 items have been exported. For CY23, the corporate plans to retain the identical numbers.
Asked about Renault’s plans for 2023, the MD mentioned: “We are not launching any new cars in 2023. We keep refreshing our product line-up. We have recently upgraded our entire range (Kwid, Triber and Kiger) to meet the government’s BS-6 Step 2 emission norms along with enhanced safety features.”
Renault stopped producing its compact sport utility automobile (SUV) Duster since February 2022, because the gross sales have been declining. The firm officers mentioned {that a} new automobile can be launched quickly, nevertheless it was not clear whether or not it will be underneath the Duster label.
Mr. Mamillapalle mentioned that the auto main had introduced a 4-5% enhance in worth of all variants resulting from enhance in enter prices, fluctuation in foreign exchange charge, inflation, and regulatory obligations.
“But we were the first ones to launch our cars with BS6 2.0 complaint engines, even as our peers are rolling out vehicle with BS6.1 emission norms. The competition will come out with BS6.2 emission norms by March or April,” he mentioned.
To a query concerning the capex, he mentioned that the agency was investing a sum of ₹5,300 crore within the alliance plant Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt. Ltd., which might see the introduction of six new fashions together with 4 SUVs and two small electrical automobiles starting 2025.
“This investment is very significant not only on products, but also on technologies like EV to capture the growing Indian market,” he mentioned.
