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Renault SA Targets India Car Market

By the end of the year 2013, Renault SA is planning to sell one hundred thousand cars in India each year. The French car maker is introducing its first model in the Asian country. Last year, this French car maker exited a joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra LTD in 2010. 

On May 23 they are going to introduce the new Fluence sedan in New Delhi. By December 2012 Renault SA is planning to sell as many as five models when they have their expected one hundred dealers. These dealers will be located across the country. 

At the moment they have zero cars, but hope to make the brand more visible and deliver at least one hundred thousand cars by the end of the year 2013. By 2020, Renault hopes to be able to capture at least five percent of the Indian auto market. They expect the local vehicle sales to at least triple, if not more, to six million cars a year. 

The Fluence's competition for customers will include the Jetta model from Volkswagen AG and the Corolla model from Toyota Motor Corporation. By the end of March, according to statistics, Toyota had sole ten thousand seven hundred and seven Corollas in India. The price of the Fluence will not be announced before the introduction. 

There is a possibility that starting with April figures on car sales, India's car sales growth may slow to eighteen percent. If this happens, it would be because of rising borrowing costs and higher prices. 

In the last nine years car sales have went up thirty percent, which is the most it has ever gone up. It was up to one point ninety eight million when their car year ended in March. In India, their car year runs from April to March. 

Renault, along with its affiliate Nissan Motor Company, will not only build the Fluence, but also a sports utility vehicle, a hatchback, a sedan, and another SUV in a plant in southern India.