The Mahindra-Renault Joint Venture came to an end earlier this year. The Joint Venture, 51% owned by Mahindra & Mahindra and 49% by Renault, has till date launched only one vehicle, the Mahindra-Renault Logan. The state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Nashik in Maharashtra too was a product of this partnership. The sedan attracted some attention but the sales figures showed otherwise. Its sales plummeted the last fiscal year. Consequently, the JV lost about Rs. 5 billion during that fiscal year.
The French car maker decided to call it quits and Mahindra acquired its stake and decided to go solo as regards manufacturing the Logan. The Logan sales have picked up after the split. The figures tell us the story. Compared to 303 units that sold in April (when the JV was intact), Logan sales have doubled to 752 units in July 2010. The growth has been credited to some quick and correct decisions taken by the company before the split.
Logans competition in this segment is the Maruti Suzuki’s Swift Dzire, Hyundai Verna Transform, Ford Fiesta, Fiat Linea and the newly launched Volkswagen Vento. Mahindra has hinted that there would be some price cuts as regards the Logan and with news of the sub-4 metre Logan (competition to the Tata Indigo CS), the competition just seems to be getting stronger.
