Renault to bring mass segment EV in next 2 years

French carmaker Renault on Wednesday said it will have to assess import duty norm and strategy for electric vehicles space in the future as it gears up to introduce a mass market EV in the country in next two years. The company is also looking to serve both right and left hand-drive markets from India as part of its focus on exports, Fabrice Cambolive, SVP and Chairman of Africa-Middle-East-India-Pacific Region for Renault Group told PTI during an interaction at the Auto Expo here.

Earlier, Renault India Managing Director and CEO Venkatram Mamillapalle announced that the company plans to bring a mass segment EV in India within the next two years. "If we have to do EV, we have to do it seriously. It means we have to be clear in terms of regulations. What is more important for me is which import duty we will be paying if we are importing components here for assembling set up? Which kind of duty we will have to pay if we export the car after assembling it here," Cambolive said.

He said if Renault wants to go for EVs it has to see what is the best way. "Of course, it is to localise, which is the way that could suit the best EV strategy in the line up," he said.

Stating that the Kwid could drive in as the first EV in India because of its "awareness and familiarity" with the market, he said it will have to be localised. "It means, we want to localise products from the existing line-up, perhaps playing on our capacity to the extent of our blockbusters," Cambolive said.

He said Renault  plans to bring one product every year in the Indian market, adding the company has to adjust to the local customers needs. He said Renault's performance in the Indian market has been "very satisfactory" since the launch of Duster, Kwid and Triber in the last few years.

"We took some lessons from what happened in the past when three years ago we decided to launch Triber here. We decided to have a product, which is a game changer, which is unique in the Indian market." He said Triber has the potential to increase volume by 30-40 per cent and India's strategy is based on product innovation, localisation as higher as 90 per cent, among others.

"If you want to be competitive in India, you have to localise and not just the car but also the powertrain," Cambolive said.

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