Renault looks to Nissan platform for compact car in India

French auto major Renault is looking to use its Japanese partner Nissan's global platform for driving into the compact car segment in India.

"We have a partnership with Nissan and Nissan has a platform for such type of car (compact car) and we can use that platform. We have some discussion over this," Renault Asia Africa Management Committee executive vice-president Katsumi Nakamura told PTI.

He said Renault is studying the Indian market and evaluating the right kind of product, including exploring its existing products, for the compact car segment.

"For the small car, we are studying what kind of car is the most appropriate for us. We are studying Sandero or such type of car but the Sandero is a little bit too big," he said.

"We are also studying Twingo or such type of car but it is just two-door only. Clio is also a little bit too big. So we are trying to find some solutions," Nakamura said. Sandero, Twingo and Clio are hatchbacks from the Renault stable and they are popular global markets, including Europe.

Commenting on Renault's plans for India, he said: "From small to luxury cars, we are interested in all the segments."

He said the company will roll out its first car, luxury sedan Fluence from its Chennai plant by next year.

"The first Renault car that will come out of the Chennai plant will be the sedan Fleunce, it will come in 2011," he said.

The Chennai plant has been co-developed by Renault and Nissan at an investment of Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) with an annual capacity of 400,000 units. Nissan will roll out its car from the plant this year.