Renault India kicked off its mobile showroom concept – Showroom on Wheels – under its campaign Renault Experience Days – from Gurugram, Haryana on July 25. The French carmaker’s Indian arm aims to touch 625 cities and deep rural pockets with this campaign, which is expected to take it closer to its customers and bring brand recognition, generate volumes, and offer end-to-end buying, and servicing facilities to customers.
The company did not specify the number of mobile vans it will deploy to conduct this activity but says that it strives to go deep into districts and villages such as Hathras, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Mahoba, to name a few. “The idea is to get closer to our customers, largely in areas and locations which are not present with our dealerships,” Sudhir Malhotra, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Renault India, told Autocar Professional.
With an existing physical network of 400 outlets across India, the company is looking to go beyond and expand its brand presence in the hinterlands by offering potential customers an experience of the brand prospects and offering them buying, as well as aftersales services. “We are going much beyond, and the length and breadth of the country is well covered with this initiative.
“With the Kwid, Triber, and Kiger being designed-for-India and made-for-India, we thought it was better to take them across India. That is how this strategic idea germinated, and therefore, we have replicated a physical showroom to offer sales experience, test drives, on-spot financing options, as well as take bookings. Since we already have a ‘Workshop on Wheels’ mobile servicing concept with our existing dealers, we will offer to arrange on-site doorstep servicing for existing customers through this campaign,” Malhotra added.
Renault India presently witnesses around 38 percent of its total sales coming from semi-urban and rural markets, which, it says, has registered significant growth from being pegged at 7 percent in 2009. Its past initiatives like the Showroom on Wheels programme have contributed to the company’s endeavours to strengthen its volume game beyond India. “In terms of this project, right now we have not limited ourselves to a volume aspiration, it is more about how to get closer to our customers with the three products in our portfolio,” he said.
With some of its competitors of the likes of Maruti Suzuki India having a wider reach and footprint, Renault India says that consumers today are getting more experimental and are willing to switch to different brands. “We see this trend across geographies within India. By and large, consumers want to try more brands. It is all about getting more aware about the ecosystem, and with the brand coming closer to the customers, it becomes easier,” Malhotra explained.
Eyeing flat growth in FY24
The company is also offering on-site financing solutions with these mobile showrooms and says it has tied up with nationalised banks like SBI as well as other regional finance partners. “We understand that not everyone will be capable of getting financing easily, and therefore, we are offering financing at our mobile showrooms. Each of these 625 locations will be tied up with the closest physical dealership, which will register the car, and offer showroom, or doorstep delivery depending upon customer preference,” he said.
The company says that while innovative retail concepts such as digital retail are helping it source leads, there is a roadblock, with a majority of the potential customers not completing their finance journey online, and preferring a physical interaction.
“India is at the top spot when it comes to per-capita data consumption, and therefore, sourcing of prospects is extremely important when we talk about digital retail. Even with the mobile showroom programme, we will be aggressively advertising on digital platforms to spread awareness,” Malhotra said.
“We would like to have a commensurate growth from both urban and rural markets for which products are adept. While the entry-level segment has shown some signs of de-growth, we aim to maintain a flat growth in FY24,” Malhotra signed off. The company has clocked overall sales of 14,398 units in Q1 FY24.