If Nissan effects a major management reshuffle in its India operations, can sister company Renault be far behind?
Close on the heels of Nissan Motor Co splitting Indian operations and separating the marketing/ distribution and manufacturing operations, Renault on Monday announced the creation of two new posts.
The French car maker will now have a country general manager as well as a chief operating officer.
Marc Nassif has been appointed as the country GM, to be based in Chennai. Nassif will perform the twin tasks of assisting the new Japanese management arriving to manage the Renault-Nissan manufacturing joint venture based in the city as well as overseeing all Renault activities in India.
Sudhir Rao, who was appointed by the outgoing Renault India chief Sylvain Bilaine last year and has been stationed in Paris as head of Asia-Africa procurement functions, is coming in as chief operating officer.
Industry insiders say Rao’s appointment to India would help in Renault’s dealings with Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Bajaj Auto.
With M&M, Renault has a marketing JV for the Logan and has been in talks to enhance the product range under this JV.
With Bajaj, it is engaged in development of the ultra low cost (ULC) car along with Nissan.
Rao would be the Indian interface with both these Indian companies. Bilaine, who set up Renault India, initiated the ULC project and was responsible for the creation of the Mahindra Renault joint venture operation, has taken VRS and plans to open a consultancy with branches in Paris and India.
The changes in Renault come at a time when the company has already made it clear that while it remains committed to the Indian market, the global economic slowdown has forced it to scale back its product rollout plans here. It has also acknowledged that the ULC project is facing some delays and the JV that manufactures the Logan is also facing tough times with sales of this car continuing to be less than satisfactory.
