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Renault and its alliance partner, Japan’s Nissan Motors, are working on a plan to develop a car that costs under $3,400 (BD1,300) destined first for emerging and poor countries, a French newspaper has reported.
La Tribune stated that the cost-effective car could, in time, also reach the European market. It cited unidentified internal sources.
The car will be developed under the leadership of Gerard Detourbet, who will take on his role at Renault-Nissan in January after having led the development of Renault’s so-called ‘Entry range’, or low-cost, vehicles like the Logan and Sandero.
Renault’s entry-level programme sold around 685,000 vehicles last year, a number equal to more than one-fourth of Renault’s total sales of 2.6 million cars and light vehicles worldwide.
Nissan Motor’s concept car Pivo 2 was put on display at the 9th China International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou which closes later today.
The Pivo was first introduced at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show.
Entry-level vehicles are aimed at emerging regions but have also been a success in more mature markets. The entry programme’s top five markets in 2010 were France, Brazil, Russia, Germany and Iran.
