French carmaker Renault has announced its plan of launching a new hatchback in India during the Auto Expo in January 2012.
Renault Executive Vice President (Product Planning and Program), Philippe Klein on June 21st, 2011, informed the reporters in the capital that, “In January 2012 we will launch a hatchback in B to B+ segment and it is specifically designed for the Indian customers by our Mumbai centre.”
Apart from giving direct competition to Maruti Suzuki’s Swift, the car would also be pitted against Hyundai’s i20, Fiat Grande Punto, Skoda Fabia and Volkswagen Polo.
Mr. Klein also stated that the company will launch in India its sports utility vehicle (SUV) Koleos by the end of 2011. India will be among the first countries to witness Koleos going on sale. He further added, “After the hatchback, our fourth car for the Indian market will be a SUV and its the Duster. We will launch it in the second half of 2012.” All the Renault models will be assembled at the company’s plant in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The alliance plant in Chennai is now fully operational with one assembly line and the company has plans to install a second assembly line by mid of 2011, which would boost the plant’s capacity to 400,000 cars per year.
