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Friday, 19 March 2010
 Nissan is busy looking for partners to produce a car to be positioned below its Micra. Now, Nissan says, anybody but Mahindra & Mahindra. Why? Well, Nissan sells the Renault Logan but is not too happy with the car’s performance. M&M and Nissan are actually too busy with this existing car. They are thinking of repositioning the Logan and simplifying it. The Logan would not be withdrawn from the Indian market though. Mahindra-Renault confirmed that both the Logan and the joint venture would stay. Will a revamped version of the entry level sedan be rolled out? There are rumours on bringing in a shortened version and now you know why the company is currently offering discounted Logan cars. We just heard that the long body may be reduced a little in length. It is believed to decrease from 4.2 to 4 metres and will also upgrade its local content. With these changes, the car will fall in the small cars category and will be able to enjoy the 10 per cent excise benefit. The car has failed to create an impression on the minds of Indians. Only around 5,000 units have been sold since April last year, 60 per cent lesser than the previous year. What is going to be the destiny of the joint venture? We do not have a say as Mahindra and Renault have been discussing the matter. It does look like the venture will survive long. However, with mutual understanding, the business model or products might be squeezed a little. There’s one thing for sure; the Logan will remain on the Indian road. The market response to the Logan has been very saddening for both Mahindra and Renault. The car may soon be simplified and we may hear some news from the company very soon. Logan customers, however, will enjoy the services of the company. The car will have a completely normal lifecycle. If not for all this drama, don’t you think it is strange to see the rates of the Logan climb down when rates of other cars are climbing up? All car makers are looking for excuses to increase prices. They say, the manufacturing costs have risen, the BS-IV norms are stringent and the prices will have to go up. Mahindra-Renault has decided to take a deviation from this trend. It is offering huge discounts to perk up the Logan’s sales. Currently Mahindra-Renault JV is trying hard to cope with the major decline in sales of its entry-level sedan. A mere 500 units per month is a sad figure. To add to this, the dealers too are burdened with Logan’s huge inventory pile-up. When there are so many cheaper alternatives these days, nobody wants to even sniff the Logan. Do you believe this? A discount of Rs. 50,000 is offered on the petrol version, while its diesel variant is available at a discount of Rs. 18,000. If you are already eligible for a corporate discount on the Logan, you are luckier. The current discounts are available in addition to that corporate offer. Now, if you have a soft corner for the car, you may have to hurry. The offer is valid only till the end of this month. Labels: Logan, Logan-Discount, Logan-Sales, Mahindra-Logan, Mahindra-Renault, Mahindra-Renault-Logan, Small-Logan
Monday, 22 February 2010
A little bit of inspiration does not really hurt, does it? When most of the leading car manufacturers are running to the Indian automotive industry with their small car offerings, why should Renault be the one lagging behind? Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of both Nissan Motor Corporation and Renault SA, recently announced that a small and cheap car would be launched for the Indian customers. Ghosn also said that they are looking at manufacturing a car as cheap as $3000 and this time again their partner of choice would be Mahindra and Mahindra. This super low-cost car will not be competing directly with the Logan, which is currently priced between Rs. 428,000 to Rs 547,000. Ghosn said that Nissan and Renault are speeding up their negotiations with suppliers in India and are already in the process of analyzing all aspects of producing their super low price car. “If it makes sense, we’ll be ready to start it,” he said, but declined to give a timeframe. And that’s not all. If they decide to go ahead with the manufacturing of their small car, they will be rolling out two cars from the same platform, one from the Renault and another from the Nissan stable. The upcoming cars are likely to sport trusted parts like the Nissan strut mount, engines and stylish accessories but will be made available at a much cheaper rate. Ghosn wants to be prepared for any kind of surprises that may come from competitors launching small and cheap cars in India. He also said that though they have not finalized the deal yet their obvious choice would be Mahindra. By the end of the year 2010, annual car sales in India are likely to double and reach an all-time high of two million, with small cars making almost two-third of the contribution. And that’s exactly the reason that major car manufactures are shifting the gear to small cars. Labels: Low-Price-Car, Mahindra, Mahindra-Renault-Logan, Nissan, Renault, Renault-Small-Car
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Car sales were robust across most segments in November, thanks to a lower statistical base (November 2008 sales were badly down in the aftermath of the global economic collapse in October), easier financing and improving economic situation. In passenger cars, sales growth was the maximum in November over the last five years. Car sales surged about 61per cent to 133,687 units from 83,121 units during last November. The biggest increase since February 2004. Each and every category of cars reported growth, with compact car sales touching almost the one lakh unit mark. But while most brands reported robust sales on improving economic environment and generous discounts, there was negligible manufacturing for some prominent car brands. Not a single unit was produced for Honda Jazz, Ford Fusion and Skoda Fabia even when sales were 546 units, 15 units and 598 units, respectively. For the Mahindra Renault Logan, production this November was significantly lower at just 71 units (610 units) when sales were 279 units (300 units). This indicates excess inventory in the system for select models, despite the overall sentiment being robust. Industry watchers are certain that with continued economic growth, sales by the end of this fiscal could come back to last year's levels. According to industry forecasts, car sales are expected to grow at least 10% this fiscal; in 2008-09, the 13 manufacturers in India sold 1.22 million cars. Labels: Car-Sales, Ford-Fusion, Honda-Jazz, Mahindra-Renault-Logan, Skoda-Fabia
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
The Logan was officially launched in 2004 but it is two-years old in India. It was introduced to the Indian car market through a joint venture between Mahindra & Mahindra and French car maker Renault.
Despite having many merits, the Logan has failed to win the hearts of Indian car buyers. The car could not attract customers mainly because of two major flaws.
The first drawback of the car is its look. The sedan has a very bland look. This is probably the reason a lot of car buyers opted out from buying the Logan. Carazoo.com feels that a face-lift could solve this problem. The sedan has to undergo a cosmetic surgery to keep up with the latest trend.
Apart from a face-lift, Mahindra-Renault should concentrate on its pricing too. The second weakness of the Logan stands on the price point. The petrol range starts at Rs 4.61 lakh going up to Rs 5.87 lakh and the top-end diesel variant is priced at Rs 6.68 lakh (all prices ex-showroom New Delhi).
Stronger competing models in the market with aggressive price tags such as Hyundai Accent, Ford Fiesta, Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire, Ford Ikon and the range of Tata Indigo sedans are available in the market in a price bracket close to the Logan.
Logan’s failure to play the pricing game was because the localisation content of the car, which is at 50 per cent, is much lower than competition and thereby has pushed up the final cost of the car. Moreover, the engine is imported from France, forcing the Logan to be more expensive compared to the other players in its segment.
Besides, the Mahindra-Renault Logan has suffered because of the dual structure excise duty, which is lower for small cars (up to 4 metres long) at 8 per cent while larger ones such as Logan (4.24 metres long) face a heftier 20 per cent. Competitor Tata Motors has trimmed the length of the Indigo to take advantage of the lower excise for small cars, thereby bringing down the cost of the car.
If the Mahindra-Renault partnership can look at these points, Carazoo.com expects that sales of the Mahindra-Renault Logan will shoot up inevitably. Labels: Logan, Logan-Facelift, Mahindra-and-Mahindra-Cars, Mahindra-Renault, Mahindra-Renault-Logan, Mahindra-Renault-Partnership, Renault-Cars
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
 Mahindra Renault Logan, an offspring of the joint venture between the Indian car manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra and the French car manufacturer Renault though fetched good prospects initially for the company, has soon run into trouble and is hardly selling 500 units per month. The company started realizing that the much hyped model of theirs is not bringing them profit and that their future is at stake. They had realized this some time back but did not bother to look back to rectify the problem as they did not want to figure out the problem! But now the company is finally ready to accept it and is getting ready to revive the sagging sales of Mahindra Renault Logan. The company currently is in the lookout for more and more options to revive and boost the sales of the car. Of the many options that the company is considering are, to bring in a new model, abandon the Logan, and refresh the Logan and so on. This mid-sized sedan, which has supported the existence of the joint venture, will not be deserted by the company but instead will be given little tweaks here and there to make it a small car; in fact little tweaks will be too little to do the magic so perhaps some major ones. Mahindra and Mahindra is in talks with the Renault to see whether they can dress up Logan as a small car and thus reducing the excise duty of the car by including it in the small car sector, which piggy backs on low duty. Let us all wait for a new Logan which will be not only seen in the green paint with a yellow number plate. Labels: Mahindra-and-Mahindra, Mahindra-Renault-Logan, Renault
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Eight winners from across the country drove away the New Collection Logan for free. We all know that with the introduction of New Collection Mahindra-Renault Logan, the company had commenced an exciting promotional offer, popularly titled as ‘Chaabi mein gaadi’. After the announcement of the offer, Logan keys were distributed to about 8 Lakh prospective Logan customers who got an opportunity to win the Logan if they had the right key to the car. Mahindra worked on a concept of lock-n-key and announced eight units of the New Collection Logan for lucky customers whose keys fit in the right car in the showroom. Excitingly, the lucky winners from Mumbai, Jaipur, and Delhi went home with a Logan. This was a thrilling and appealing offer from Mahindra. With attention of huge mass of people, Mahindra also enjoyed this marketing campaign. Labels: Mahindra-Cars, Mahindra-Renault-Logan
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Mahindra Renault Logan is a big bang in the Indian car industry. The launch of this car had revitalized the car scar segment comprising entry level midsized sedans. After relishing the success of Logan in India, the company decided to drive the super success to Nepal. There too, the car gave a good response in terms of performance, powertrain, fuel efficiency and drivability. Now, Logan spreads its wings wider. Yes, the car is now ready to drive on the roads of South Africa. The first batch of the Logan cars has already been shipped to the South African market. Once Logan fits into the African market, the company also has plans to drive this car to other right-hand drive markets. The company has recently launched the limited edition of Logan and is working on a CNG variant of the Logan. Mahindra & Mahindra and Renault have high hopes from their Logan and are expecting to create a benchmark in the global car industry. Labels: Indian-Car, Logan-Cars, Logan-Limited-Edition, Mahindra-Renault-Logan
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Logan is winning appreciation and accolades across the country. It is one of the highest fuel efficient cars running on Indian roads. After the success of Logan in India, Mahindra-Renault introduces the car to Nepal. The jointly manufactured car by Mahindra and Renault is believed to be marketed by Agni Inc., a company that is currently marketing and selling Mahindra cars in the Himalayan country. The overseas venture of Logan is associated with superior and elegant features. The car will be available in both petrol and diesel engines powered by 1.4 GLE 1.5 DLS, respectively. Agni feels that Logan is a technologically superior car that will definitely get good response from the consumers in Nepal. Is this true? Will the success of Logan in Indian reflect in the car market of Nepal? Labels: Automotive-technology, Fuel-efficiency, Mahindra-Renault-Logan
Monday, 28 July 2008
 Here comes the car to edge your thoughts from the rising inflation! Mahindra-Renault has launched the new version of the Logan named as Logan Edge with the view to relief consumers from rising fuel cost. Driven by the highest fuel efficiency of Logan, the venture has introduced a new version of the car with higher capabilities to challenge high inflation. Priced between Rs 5 Lakh and Rs 7.15 Lakh (ex-showroom-Delhi), the Logan Edge is produced in limited edition based on the extensive customer feedback and responses. The venture has considered this launch as an endeavour to offer the best to all its customers. Limited edition is produced to test the car performance and judge further responses from the customer. The new Logan Edge comes with a blend of style, elegance and interesting features like reverse parking sensor, beige leather seat covers, Kenwood music system, wood finish center console and USB connectivity. The car is available in both the petrol and diesel variants with engine capacities between 1.4 litre and 1.6 litre. What do you say? Will the Logan Edge be successful in facing the current situation? Will the car beat its ancestor, the Logan? Labels: Car-features, Car-prices, Mahindra-Renault-Logan
Monday, 23 June 2008
Maruti Swift DZire and Mahindra-Renault Logan are two popular mid-size entry level sedans leading the Indian car market. Most of the people across the country are confused with which is the best sedan, DZire or Logan?  Both the cars are widely found on Indian roads as they are good with respect to engine performance, fuel efficiency, fantastic suspension, smooth riding and much more. Even on the hard and bumpy roads, the cars hold a good grip and make the ride comfortable. Both DZire and Logan are equally good with latest technology, attractive and classy interiors. DZire is all about curves while Logan is known for edges and angles. Logan is the only car in its class that has three head-rests in the rear seat. The significant difference between the two is of course the name of the manufacturer. Just because these cars belong to different companies, they are competing with each other to create a benchmark. So, which one will you choose? Labels: Mahindra-Renault-Logan, Maruti-Dzire
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