Il n'est pas question de divorce entre Renault et Mahindra, mais ils veulent réorganiser leur joint-venture.
Voici une dépêche de Bloomberg sur ce sujet :
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Renault SA, France’s second-biggest carmaker, will set up its own distribution network in India as the manufacturer discusses reorganizing its joint venture with partner Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Renault and Mahindra will announce details of their plans in 30 to 45 days, Sudhir Rao, chief operating officer of the French carmaker’s local unit, said today at a news conference in Mumbai. The automaker will set up its own independent dealer network in India, the company said in a statement separately.
The French automaker will review the future of the venture with Mahindra, which makes the Logan car, Marc Nassif, Renault’s local country manager, said last month. The joint venture’s sales plunged 64 percent between April and December, extending a 48 percent decline in the year ended in March, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.
After a weak start for its no-frills Logan sedan, Renault is playing catch-up on the Indian market, said London-based Credit Suisse analyst Stuart Pearson, who has an “outperform” recommendation on Renault stock. “Sales have been disappointing in India, so they really had to restructure.”
Renault, which has its headquarters in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, will resume investments in an Indian factory it’s building with affiliate Nissan Motor Co., less than a year after it suspended the plans, company officials said in January at the New Delhi auto show.
Losses
Mahindra, India’s largest sport-utility vehicle maker, controls 51 percent of the partnership, which started selling the Logan in 2007. The joint venture had a loss of 4.9 billion rupees ($105 million) in the fiscal year ended March 31, according to the annual report of Mahindra.
The sedan competes against models including Tata Motors Ltd.’s Indigo and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.’s Swift Dzire.
“Mahindra and Renault will continue to work together in a positive and synergistic manner,” said Roma Balwani, a spokeswoman for Mumbai-based Mahindra. “We are confident that the Logan will be in the market and continue to sell through its current network.”
Renault rose 67 cents, or 2.1 percent, to 33.31 euros in Paris. The stock has declined 8 percent this year, valuing the company at 9.49 billion euros. Mahindra fell 0.9 percent to 991.2 rupees in Mumbai.
In November, Anand Mahindra, the managing director of Mahindra, blamed changes in Indian taxes for small cars as the reason for the decline in demand for the car. Renault “must be willing to provide local autonomy” for creating changes in the vehicle, he had said.
Renault will introduce two cars in India next year, Nassif said last month. Renault spent 100 million euros ($137 million) building a plant in the southern city of Chennai, and with Nissan plans to invest 45 billion rupees by 2015, he said then.
La Logan produite par Mahindra est désavantagée par les taxes du fait de sa longueur supérieure à 4 mètres;
Et il semblerait, d'après cette dépêche, que des modifications pourraient être apportées à cette voiture pour le marché local.