French carmaker Renault is looking to revive its fortunes in India with new launches, including the return of its popular Duster SUV, a greater focus on hybrid and CNG vehicles, and plans to expand its portfolio to seven models by 2030.After losing ground while restructuring its European operations, Renault is betting on India’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities. The country, with over 6,000 engineers, is its second-largest engineering base after France. The company has acquired full ownership of its manufacturing facility from the Japanese carmaker Nissan.In an interview with The Indian Express, Renault Group India CEO Stephane Deblaise acknowledged that a prolonged lack of new launches had hurt the company amid intensifying competition in India since the original Duster debuted in 2012. He said the revival strategy extends beyond the hybrid Duster. Edited excerpts:You are bringing the famous car name Duster back to India. How has the response been, and how crucial is it for Renault’s revival in the country?Duster is a name that many people know in India, because we created the segment in 2012. The platform, it’s a very good platform, on which we can put a lot of technical solutions. And last, but not least, the Duster was successful 14 years ago thanks to diesel, but today, we think that we will be successful thanks to the hybrid. It has a fuel efficiency of 29 litres per kilometre, which is better than the competition.Duster, though, is one piece of the game. We have a great lineup. For instance, we launched the Triber with a nearly 100 bhp engine, and nobody offers a seven seater car like that at Rs 6 lakh.What I want to tell you is that we are not only focusing on the Duster, though it is a very important car. We have several cars in our lineup, and we will have more. We have two platforms, we are investing in people because we have more than 6,000 engineers in India, which makes India more or less the second biggest engineering centre in the world after France for us.Story continues below this adWe are investing in products. By 2030 we will have seven cars in the lineup, and we are investing in our manufacturing plant, which we have bought from Nissan. If you invest in people, technology, and production, you are part of the game.Despite being a famous name in India, initial traction towards the new Duster was sluggish. How has the hybrid version done abroad, and do you hope it will help the car in India?It’s working amazingly. It’s over performing in Europe. There, we sell only the hybrid, and the market share of the Duster is very high. The hybrid Duster is a very good solution for India, where powertrains are very important. In Europe, people are gradually starting to pay less attention to displacement, but India has not forgotten the engine yet. Indians are still preoccupied by having a good engine, a big displacement, and good fuel efficiency. The hybrid Duster has a 1.8 litre engine, you can not be any bigger in this type of a car. India should like the car.Renault had some big hits in India. But it has not been able to sustain initial traction in a way that leads to long-term growth. What went wrong?Story continues below this adYes, you are right on all that you said. In fact, between 2018 to 2023, Renault had decided to focus its revival plan in Europe. Apparently, it was a good choice because it worked. But after 2023, it was decided to look at international expansion. But there was this lack of product during a certain time, and it explains why the second Duster did not come to India, and why we lost ground at that time.What is the typical profile of a Duster customer, and has it changed from when the car first launched over a decade ago?It’s a very difficult question because India is changing at the same time. You cannot compare India in 2012 and 2026. Many people think the Duster created the midsize SUV segment in India back then, when the reality is that it created the segment worldwide. Till then, to have an SUV, you had to be rich. The Duster gave an SUV to normal people. This happened in Europe, Brazil, Russia, and India.India has changed. Now, of course the competitors have taken the place that we left, and now we have to come back in a much more mature market. I think people today are more sensitive to value than before. Earlier, they were okay with a lower-priced car which had low value, but today those cars won’t sell. It has to be a good price for a good value.Story continues below this adEven if the market is a bit crowded in this segment, there are not that many different offerings. The Korean ones are basically the same from underneath, and same for the Germans.We see a broad divergence in powertrain focus among Indian carmakers. Some seem to be leaning more on EV, others on hybrids and CNG. What is Renault’s plan for India?Electrification is at the core of our strategy and development. And we say electrification by purpose, because it doesn’t mean only full electric cars. It means plug-in hybrids, regular hybrids, range-extenders etc. Depending on the customers, we will develop either a strong hybrid, or an EV. For India, a key part of our strategy is to acknowledge that CNG seems to be a good solution. So, we will develop many more CNG options, especially for value conscious customers.There is a broad consensus that outside of the two-three big carmakers in India, other manufacturers may struggle with the overcapacity issue, where parts of their manufacturing plant remain underutilised. Do you agree with the thought?Story continues below this adWe don’t think the way you think. We see India as an amazing country for engineering, manufacturing, and the market. I think, outside of domestic brands, Renault has the biggest engineering centre of any OEM in India, which is our second biggest one after France. The supplier network and development here, which was not good earlier, is amazing today.When you have a good engineering base, and supplier network, naturally you think the market can be used as an export hub — be it car development, parts, or the things we do for the rest of the world from our engineering base here.The cost of unused capacity is not the same in every country. In India, my biggest issue is not if my plant is full, but whether we are able to deliver cars that Indians want to buy. We would have a lot to lose if we make a strategic mistake on a bad choice on technology on one car or a bad choice on localisation, rather than having our plant not fully full.Exports are a big part of the overall strategy of almost all carmakers in India. What is Renault’s export strategy, and do you see some gaps in using India as an export hub?Story continues below this adThere are some challenges due to the supply chain, because as of now, the export volumes from India of goods to some other countries, especially, for instance, Europe, are not so high. It means that the cost of logistics is high, because the routes do not exist properly. Having a good engineering solution to build a good car at a good cost is possible in India, but after that, the transportation to some countries — not to all — is too high. But step by step, it will improve. It is also linked to the story of suppliers who were earlier not as good, are okay today, and we are pushing them to be better. If they become excellent, we will be able to export more.