Renault has designs on India

French carmaker Renault has put its money where its mouth is. Two years ago, they set up a small cell in Mumbai as an observational outpost.

Since that time, they have put together the Steppe concept based on the Logan — an estate version that looked the part of an adventurous off-roader — which was unveiled at last year's Geneva Motor Show and the Man Machine Interface concept that was shown at the Paris Motor Show 2006.

While at it, they have also been actively working with the Indian textile industry to source materials for the group cars.

Now, Renault Design India has gone beyond this and is on the way to becoming a full-fledged design centre, joining Renault's international satellite design centres in Barcelona, Paris, Bucharest and Kihueng in Korea. So what does that mean? It means that this unit will actually design automobiles for the Indian market and for other countries in the region. Designs will go beyond on-paper and proper, finalised mock-ups will be built.

For any carmaker, let alone a highly design-oriented manufacturer like Renault, such design centres are critical to their business. Because here's where future trends are observed and forthcoming models and accessories are conceived.

Renault Design India will be integrated with the other design centres and will be completely involved in the design process, right from initial sketches to mock-up and prototype production. So does that mean here is where Renault's president and CEO Carlos Ghosn's $3,000 car will be conceived? Sure, it's likely to play a critical role in the ambitious project, and as Ghosn recently mentioned, India can teach a few things about 'frugal engineering'.

The importance of Renault Design India was underscored when Patrick Le Quement came visiting this week. Renault's senior vice president in charge of design, who directly reports to Ghosn, is one of the biggest names in car design worldwide.

Le Quement, who has some great cars to his credit like the Ford Sierra and the Renault Twingo and Megane, made a scintillating presentation on how Renault design works and was happy talking automotive design to the press as well students from design institutes.