RACE FOR MARKET SHARE: Anand Mahindra (left), Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, with Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO, Renault, at the launch of the Logan from Mahindra Renault in Mumbai on Tuesday. — Photo: Paul Noronha

MUMBAI: Mahindra Renault, the joint venture between Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Renault of France, on Tuesday unveiled Logan in India.

The Logan is one of Renault's globally successful models and it will be rolled out from M&M's Nashik plant, which has been upgraded with an installed capacity to make 50,000 units annually.

Fuel economy

The Logan will be available in diesel and petrol versions and in six colours. The price (ex-New Mumbai) of the petrol 1.4 and 1.6 versions ranges from Rs. 4.28 lakh to Rs 5.69 lakh (before octroi) and the diesel 1.5 version from Rs. 5.47 lakh to 6.44 lakh. The same ex-New Delhi would be Rs. 4.35 lakh to 5.76 lakh for petrol versions and Rs. 5.54 lakh to Rs. 6.51 lakh for the diesel version.

The Logan offers fuel efficiency of 14-18 kilometres a litre (kmpl) on the Common Rail Diesel engine and 10-13 kmpl with the petrol engines, according to company officials.

Addressing a press conference here, Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, M&M, said, "the Logan is a milestone for us as it marks our entry into the most competitive segment of the automotive market.

"The global quality platform of the Logan with its unmatched features makes it a landmark for the Indian car industry.

"The strengths of Renault and our passion for outperformance and customer centricity have offered a product that will appeal to the evolved Indian customer.''

The car has been adapted to suit the Indian driving conditions with the air-conditioning and heating system having been designed to suit extreme climatic conditions that prevail in the sub-continent.

New set-up

Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO, Renault SA, said, "today signals a new step in Renault's global expansion. It marks the start of Renault sales on the Indian market and sees the first right hand drive versions of Logan created to meet the needs of our Indian customers.''

Since its launch in 2004, around 4.50 lakh Logan have been sold worldwide in 51 countries in five continents.

The Logan will be available at M&M's dealerships throughout India in two phases. In the first phase, it will be launched in nine cities and deliveries will commence a month later.

In the second phase, another 15 cities will be covered and delivery will start in June.

Rajesh Jejurikar, Managing Director, Mahindra Renault, said, 50 per cent of the car had been localised and the engines were being imported from Romania and Spain. "We plan to localise in the future. We have commenced production a few weeks ago and will reach maximum capacity by July 2007. While there are no plans for export, our vendors will have the opportunity to export parts to Europe and elsewhere where the Logan is being built,'' he added.

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