Renault Logan: Most practical car in India

First question that most of the Indians (maybe those who are not very well connected to the external world!) ask is "Who are Renault?"

Answer is easy: Renault are one of the biggest european car makers based in France.

And "what are they doing in India? and why Mahindra Renault?"
French giant could not ignore the Indian market for long and they wanted to learn – with an Indian partner preferably – the skills that are required to build affordable cars in a sustained manner. The current joint venture (with Mahindra & Mahindra) for building the Logan is for just 50,000 cars, and it may or may not get extended. Perhaps Mahindra will continue to build the Logan and pay Renault a royalty for some time. In the meanwhile, the Renault-Nissan combine will have its own car plant and new small car projects on stream. As for Mahindra, they would have a smooth entry into the passenger car market with a car that is 'right' from day one and they can build on this strength and make more passenger car models in the future.

Good things about this offering from Renault:
Make no mistake, this is a car built to a price. And the Indian version sticks to the brief like glue. The design is not like any of the contemporary Renaults since the thinking when the Logan was conceived, was a car that looked as robust as it actually was. There is nothing flimsy about this machine. And then there is space – lots of it.

Fit and finish of the car, despite a very labour intensive manufacturing process which makes it affordable, is second to none. This car is absolutely well put together. The powertrain, an imported one, is probably not as slick as others from Renault.

The biggest strength of the car is econmy- the car claims 18kmpl (diesel motor) on highways. If it lives up to its claim, it will be the best machine in its class.

Does it fall short anywhere?
Well, it does. Particularly when it comes to looks, this car proves that it indeed is an economy car and cost cutting in everything is visible. Even the interiors are quite imferior. The dials, for example, do not have red lines marked on them so that they can be sourced for both diesel and petrol variants. Power window switches are housed on the central console so that the doors can be assembled without any electrical wiring and wipers sweep reverse path.

There are ergonomic issues too, like oddly placed aircon controls, a bottle holder that comes in the way of the gear lever and a steering wheel that may not be comfortable to reach for those who are vertically challenged.


Verdict:
All in all, Mahindra Renault Logan appears to be fairly strong on the paper when compared with its competitors (Maruti Suzuki Esteem, Hyundai Accent, Ford Ikon, and the Tata Indigo). But it will be intersting to see how it performs in the market.

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