Renault and Nissan to maintain separate brand identity

Renault and Nissan have decided to focus on maintaining a separate brand identity in India after attempts at cross branding (Pulse and Scala) has not yielded it the success that the French manufacturer has wanted to achieve.

However, given that they are global partners, Renault and Nissan will continue to share all their facilities and platforms to keep economies of scale. This means that the facility outside Chennai will continue to produce models from both manufacturers and is likely to work closer to optimum capacity in the future as more models will be coming off the lines.

According to a report in the Hindu Business line, it is likely that this step has been directed by the fact that the Duster (a product of Renault’s Romanian subsidiary Dacia) has been more successful than both the re-badged models.

It is likely that this move is to ensure that Renault’s position in India is in more premium than Nissan, as is the case globally. This means that the Datsun model to be launched in 2014 will sit below the French automaker’s 800cc small car (codenamed A Entry) which is also due around the same time.

Source: Hindu Businessline