Renault has announced a Leadership change in India, effective March 1st 2019. Mr Venkatram Mamillapalle will take over as the new Managing Director for Renault India Private Limited and Head of Renault Operations in India from Mr Sumit Sawhney, who will be moving to a new position within the group. Mr Venkatram Mamillapalle who till recently was the Head of Renault-Nissan-Avtovaz Purchasing Organisation in Russia comes with extensive automotive experience and has worked with various Indian and International OEMs. He will report to Mr Fabrice Cambolive – Chairman, AMI Region for Groupe Renault.
Commenting on this change, Mr Fabrice Cambolive, Senior Vice-President, Chairman, Africa-Middle-East-India Region, said, “Over the last six years, Sumit has been instrumental in laying a strong foundation for establishing and growing the Renault brand in India. Under his leadership, Renault has become the number one European brand in this highly competitive and dynamic automotive market with two strong pillar models Duster and Kwid. Sumit has ensured that the India team, together with all our partners, work towards a single focus of achieving the important ambitions laid out for the Indian market and has also worked towards ensuring the future line up for the country. Sumit will continue to be a member of the Africa-Middle East India Region executive committee and his new position will be announced soon.”
On the product front, the French carmaker recently updated the Kwid lineup with standard ABS and driver-side airbag to make it comply with upcoming norms. The other addition in the list involves a brand new 17.64cm Touch screen MediaNAV system, which not only offers voice recognition and video playback but also offers Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity options. Renault has been testing a new MPV for the Indian market too, which is tipped to go on sale later this year. On the other hand, there is still no news as for when will the updated Duster go on sale in India.