Mahindra-Renault going strong

Doesnt seem he wants to walk away from the JV!

Now I really feel what I predicted is going to happen..

Let's wait and see

Fresh in today's industry new. Some clarification finally.


Renault to continue with M&M for Logan, says Ghosn

Renault’s link with M&M for Logan to continue putting an end to the speculation about the split, confirmed by the Chairman and CEO of Renault-Nissan. The changes or strategies involved in the project are not revealed but the car is pairing with M&M’s Scorpio in the showrooms. Renault is firm and clear with its projects for the future Indian market and Logan is in no way a meddle for its business.

Renault is to have a clear mindset about marketing its products but it is to be remembered that the venture between Renault and M&M is on 51:49 basis for manufacturing Logan. The car has made a dismal show with less than 500 unit incurring a loss of Rs500 crore. The Nashik plant was designed for 50000 cars per year. M&M prefers to have changes in the design of Logan especially its length to be fit for small car in the Indian market so as to avail cut on duty of 8% (from20%) thereby reducing the cost of the car by Rs50000. Hence the mood in the Renault camp is to alter the vehicle for the improved sale in addition to localized components for reducing the cost.

Other factors will be worked out then and there. Everything will materialize before the ensuing Auto Show in Delhi. Renault is committed to deliver what the customer wants and to be value-driven.

Logan is a great success in Russia, Europe and North Africa and Brazil. Renault is surprised about the Indian impact for this car and it gives importance for Logan on futuristic aspects.

Shortening the length will prove to be another blunder for sure. Even if they do reduce the length, the original Logan should be sold side by side.

I think a 2cm reduction is required.. Does this length include the bumpers? Should be simple to do it then right? take 1cm off the bumpers on both front and rear.

Anything else will definitely be a blunder.. I agree.

They wont shorten it thats to dear !!
but they could bring the sandero that is a short Logan

Sandero might been seen as a compact SUV kind of car that might compete with mahindra.. ruled out I think.

Short Logan... What is that? if it is short its no more a Logan... It has to be of this dimension. Or else there are other options. Why to go for logan then??? In my view most of indians have opted for Logan just because of its dimensions and capacity to carry 5 adults in comfort. Without this, at least i wont be impressed so as to buy one.

Mir... wrote:

Short Logan... What is that? if it is short its no more a Logan... It has to be of this dimension. Or else there are other options. Why to go for logan then??? In my view most of indians have opted for Logan just because of its dimensions and capacity to carry 5 adults in comfort. Without this, at least i wont be impressed so as to buy one.

I agree..

looking forward to separate showrooms and service centers for Logan... not too impressed with mahindra mechanics.

The Sandero is a Logan without a boot
have a look at the side views and LOOK at the Back its a Logan without boot

To me Mahindra is not doing its best to showcase Logan. From my experience, they have Scorpio written all over its showrooms & service centers

This move to sell Logan through a seperate space i am sure will get more attraction and focus from M&M and Renault together. Its been long, since i have seen a good ad for this car to say the least !

I am not sure if mahindra has a problem with only the Logan or there is a deeper problem. let me recount one workshop horror experience.
The left front window glass would tilt down towards the front every time I put the glass up. This was reported during the second service.

The car came back with door panel fitting problem. It did not fit properly and there was a slight rattling because of that. The car was returned without a test drive by the service engineers.

I took the car back. This time they opened the rear door panel too to check for any rattling noise. The back panel was fitted back without adequate sealing adhesive. The front door panel was fixed back but they used one clip less (which I found under the floor mat ).... well that's not the end of it...

I took the car back... This time the panel fit was okay.. but the front door speaker stopped working. They forgot connecting the wires. .. :-) so the panel was opened again.. I was handed back the car with due apologies.... I drove back a few KMS.. then found a new ratting noise...opened the speaker cover to find that the door speaker was mounted with only two screws instead of at least three or four ( depending on the size of the speakers )... as a result the speaket had got pivoted on a central axis.. and would rattle about against the walls.

This was at Silver Jubilee Motor, Hadapsar workshop, Pune.

My opinion is that mahindra engineers and mechanics lack the right work ethic.... i have never faced any problem at Maruti workshops.

Mahindra workshops also lack a proper diagnostic analysis by their engineers. Maruti people do a proper job, they know their cars well, and their analysis of any reported problem is technically very sound.

I am eagerly looking forward to Separate Service Centers for Logan.

i would term this sheer negligence and lack of responsibility.

Why dont these guys ever try to better thier services and approach to customers' issues?
When are we going to learn?

I guess ... some companies are yet to mend their ways ... but many are changing... M&M must also realize that these are not problems that'll go away if they took a little extra care. It takes much more than that to instill the right work culture.
There are many system level problems too. Diagnostic is one. Role of the service engineer also needs to be looked into. I've seen them depend too much on the workshop floor mechanics. They call the mechanic level presonnel to take test drives and analyze problems. This is definitely not working with M&M. The process is ill designed if not ill defined. They don't take a test drive with the owner before taking the vehicle into the workshop. Same... they don't take a test drive with the owner before handing over the vehicle.. at least not always, or if not insisted upon.

Part replacement call is also taken by the mechanic and only reviewed by the service engineer. I've seen them highly respect the mechanic's call... conversely the engineers are not taking the call.

I've spent some time on their shop floor.. inspite of the security following me !

No disrespect to the shop mechanics.. but what's their profile here.
I read somewhere that Bajaj new bikes (pulsar, discover etc ) are built on a new assembly line where the minimum qualification is diploma engineer... I definitely can't say the same about M&M.

I guess the best hope is service centers bilt only for Logan.. with better training and work ethic.

Silver Jiblee Motors, Pune has been selling vehicles since 1937, it seems... and I've had this kind of experience at their main service center.

Is there anybody on this forum from Pune who can give some feed back on Bora Motor's work shop or any other Authorized work shop in pune ?

I read all thoughts and worries of logan proud owners.But i thought that renault is not a small player in world.Both the joint venture partner cant understand about the problems which they are facing from the market, dull sales. Why sales become dull . Few words regarding the sales/future
1. Marketing
2.Sales executives confidence regarding the car
3.Taxi market ( it affect so many private people to avoid the purchase of logan.
4.Service problems .
5.Spare parts price is to high (car is selling with minimum profit margin then at the time of service they take high price to cover profit).
6.NO Facelift as on today from the date of launchMarch 07 .( This also affect the sales of the car a lot).

Please add if any honorable member have to add some points more.

Renault is obviously not small player and so is Mahindra at least in indian market.
Problem is not about big or small.

On same lines of Thomasmathew, my personal belief zeros down to just one point

1. Not enough zeal from Renault to get this car through.

In case if mahindra is palying foul and given the fact that Renault is enough enthusiastic it could devise a strategy to chuk mahindra out and show them the doors.

For the spare part pricing i differ a bit. I believe prices are competitive. With further price drops the quality suffers which i am not agreeable to.

For facelift part i again differ. As per me this is the best face lifted version of this model. There cant be any better face lift to this model atleast. The way i see its saturated, unless the big space factor is compromised.

I agree with Mir. Spare parts price is not the problem. I don't want compromise on quality. Remember the first Maruti 800s launched in India. Those were the best in quality. I've seen many of those owners not willing to sell their vehicles even now. I don't want localization at the cost of quality.
I am willing to shell out a bit extra if it maintains the car in top quality.

About Nov' sale figures. A resident in my society asked me about the Logan's performance. He's planning to buy.. either the Logan or the Indica CS. Now he wants to buy next year because then it'll be 2010 model. It improves the resale value. I guess that might be a reason for the drop in sales.

Also most other car manufacturers are offering year end discounts. Ford Fiesta is offering 70,000/- discount. There's about 30,000/- discount on many Maruti models.

Thomasmathew wrote:

3.Taxi market ( it affect so many private people to avoid the purchase of logan.
.

This is a sad fact. But what i am keen to know from the forum is whether MR can stop this, if they choose to.

Toyota Kirloskar stopped Qualis because they would most likely have felt Toyota's name getting tagged as a taxi...

Any visitor to Bangkok will tell you that 95% of all taxis are Toyota Corollas and Corolla Altis! Does that mean the locals do not buy these cars for personal use? On the contrary, these cars sell as much in the privately owned car domain!

Selling as taxis (and I have said this earlier as well) tells me that the car is reliable and easy to maintain.

A friend of mine just back from Israel cannot stop gushing on the number of Logans on roads there - both as taxis as well as privately owned cars.

Loganromeo wrote:

Selling as taxis (and I have said this earlier as well) tells me that the car is reliable and easy to maintain.

You are right.. its a reliable thing.

However, that doesnt seem to be bearing in India. I was for one discouraged from buying Logan just for this fact.

Dear Mir,

You are right,the view point is very correct.Thank you very much for your good response.

All you Logan lovers, might be interested in reading about the car and the guy who designed the logan.................He quit Mercedes for it...

http://www.roconsulboston.com/Pages/InfoPages/Businesspages/Renault.html


N