Car Articles

When it comes to joint ventures in the automotive industry, Indo-French car makers seem to be getting themselves divorced most often. In joys and sorrows, hardships and triumphs, car makers from the two nations have found it difficult to commit to each other. We first had the two-wheeler arm of Peugeot and the Indian moped maker, Chamundi Mopeds tie the knot. The two wanted to make a moped with self-start and alloy wheels. Alas! It did not live long.

Next we had Peugeot partnering with Premier Automobile to manufacture the 309 notchback in diesel and petrol variants. The product was just perfect for the Indian roads. The joint venture, however, failed. The next interesting Indo-French joint venture was of Renault and Mahindra. This venture too dissolved into thin air. Mahindra buys the Renault stake and decides to parent the Logan in India single-handedly. Here's more on this joint venture.

Renault designs of the 1970s were dying and Dacia, the fully owned subsidiary of Renault in Romania wanted to produce an all-new car to keep the designs alive. The Eastern Europeans had a soft corner for the boxy cars with straight-lined shapes that surfaced from Germany and the rest of Europe in the 1980s and early 1990s.

So, the Renault designers visualized a low-cost car that was to retail for under Euro 5000. The car, however, was one that looked robust and trustworthy compared to the sleek beauties stirred up by the Japanese and the Koreans. This was the biggest challenge to Dacia in the then developing economic markets of Eastern Europe. The car became a big hit and enjoyed pampering from buyers in most parts of Europe. Europeans liked the car's no-frill appeal. Mahindra and Mahindra was the main force behind the Tata Group. M&M helped Tata Motors for over ten years helping them build the modern day passenger vehicle. It now thought of snatching the opportunity and in unison with Renault started building and selling the Logan in India.

Both Mahindra and Renault would have their share of profit when it came to gaining knowledge and expertise. M&M would get all important expertise needed to build monocoque or unitary construction. This was something different from the conventional body-on-chassis designs of the Jeep clones and Scorpio cars. Renault, on the other hand, would gain direct knowledge of the cost-effective supplier base that Mahindra enjoyed in India. A labour-intensive car plant was established as against a fully automated one to analyze the quality and cost-effective work force available in India.

In metros in India, people were buying lustrous and fashionable present-day models like the Maruti Suzuki Swift in great numbers. Now, would the new robust-looking Logan be able to capture this market? Unfortunately, the irony was that there was already a readymade market for a sophisticated and reliable sedan in diesel and petrol versions at a low price. The Maruti Swift Dzire still enjoys demand and has a four month waiting list as of now.