Joining hands with Mahindra and Mahindra, Renault tasted quite a sweet and sour experience in India. The Logan did not deliver as it was expected to do.

However, the auto major learnt a lot about the country’s car market. It decided to launch a new car in every segment and started looking out for dealers to expand its foothold in the country. That was why we had asked you a while ago if you were ready to drive the change with Renault, remember? Well, Renault is now dumbstruck.

Marc Nassif, country general manager and MD of Renault India, admits, “Developing the network is the most important thing for us. However, we have been pleasantly surprised with the interest in Renault from the dealer community.” Everything happened so quick that right now, Renault is giving the finishing touches to its India strategy, which will include the launch of five new models within the next five years.

However, unlike Volkswagen, Renault does not have any big time investment plans in India. The car maker instead plans on taking just one step at a time. The biggest challenge would be to develop an all-India dealer network and this seems to be very essential because of the Mahindra-Renault joint venture breakup. The French car maker has been left without a single dealer in the country, but as mentioned earlier, the interest in Renault from the dealer community has been outstanding and the auto maker is happy about it.

Renault is looking at having 70 dealers initially, say by 2013-14. By mid next year the car maker will roll out the Fluence saloon, its first model in India followed by the Koleos SUV a little later, say end of 2011. Both the Fluence and Koleos will be Renault’s flagships and will be assembled from CKD kits in Renault-Nissan’s Oragadam plant outside Chennai. While the Fluence is expected to carry a tag of Rs 12-13 Lakh, the Koleos may be priced in the range Rs 16-18 Lakh.

Now for some real interesting news; Renault has begun thinking about the Dacia Duster for India. Yes, the SUV based on the Logan platform may be here. Known internally as H79, the Duster may be an easy offering to make. There is a ready supply base of the Logan foundation with the 1.5 dCi or the K9K diesel motor which would allow it to be priced very competitively. Also, the Duster has a very appealing look. So, if priced right, at around Rs 7-8 Lakh the Duster may have quite a few takers.

However, the small one based on the V-platform will be the big one for Renault. Renault’s take will be a small and beautiful hatchback based on the platform that the Nissan Micra carries. The new car can be expected by late 2012 and will have more design flair than the cute but robust-looking Micra.

Have you heard of the Clio? We hear that the tooling for the present Clio is available after it is phased out in Europe and could be shipped to India. The huge savings in tooling costs and other investments would give the Clio a very aggressive tag and this car could be positioned as a big hatchback at a bargain price. But, do you think a model that’s phased out elsewhere could do well in India? Well, it may. The supermini car had worked wonders by being the top-selling car since its launch in Europe and has also been largely credited with restoring Renault’s face after the difficulty the company faced during the second half of the 1980s.