Think of “low cost car” and before the Tata Nano came up you’ll most likely think of the Renault Logan. The Logan is a car designed from the beginning to be very cheap to build, which means everything is low cost down to the design of the car’s exterior and interior, which feature shapes that are technically easy to cast and mould, etc.
You’d think that the Logan would do well in India but for some reason the Mahindra Renault Logan flopped. Last year’s sales only justified a production run of well under 20,000 units per annum – less than a third of Mahindra’s planned capacity of 50,000 units. The Mahindra Renault JV lost 4.9 billion rupees in the 2008/09 financial year.
The Indian-majority 51:49 JV is currently scaling down its business to adjust to lower than expected sales of the Logan. Everything will be slashed down to a level of business that supports only 500 units sales per month – that’s just 6,000 a year! India is a huge huge country with a massive customer base and that’s really low considering in Malaysia we saw the Perodua Myvi hit just over 7,000 registrations in November 2009 while the Saga did just over 6,000. Even moving up the price segments, a total of 791 Honda Civics were registered in November. So 500 a month in India is low.
The Logan’s failure is attributed to various factors – its higher price due to escalating material costs due to a rising Euro, a less than desirable low-cost styling which did not gel well to the tastes of an increasingly sophisticated Indian consumer’s tastebuds, etc.
Rising material costs due to forex is a real issue to the Logan as it is claimed that over half the Logan’s content is imported, and current volumes do not justify localization of supply in India. The Logan’s size is also over 4 meters in length so it is in one excise tax bracket too high.
I know many unrelated stories somehow end up being related to Proton in the comments but in this case I feel it is worth mentioning that these cases should be studied closely and taken seriously by Proton’s export team in order to ensure that a Proton entry in India is successful. For one, the Saga looks way better than the Logan so I don’t think that will be an issue! With the current Proton management’s product planning style of taking market research seriously, let’s hope that an Indian entry will be a good one.
inb4 first
aaaah paul, edi developed sixth sense, yeah? ;)
inb4 saga, proton, govt, tax, subsidy bashings
kwangkwangkwang :D
seen this car there many times…should be an easy win for saga…whatmore it will kill the logan if proton brings the saga se there…
logan?wolverine??lol
Logan 1.6 cc . slightly bigger than Saga,, but maybe it lacks style… but its price in egypt is Egp 67000 for manual (no auto) saga auto there is 69000 while manual is 63000 . Logan is among successfull new car in egypt market for 2009.. while saga just launched there about 1.5 month. hope saga do well there.
Maybe the Savvy will do well in India as it did in Thailand?
Saga is THEE best proton car by far , it justifies the price , it has more rear leg room than the persona (I've tested personally with my buddy in the showroom , he's 181, i'm 178) , the plastics is slightly better than sa savvy and the boot is huge.., More money proton makes , more likely (likely) better funding in R&D, SAGA and EXORA , dont export any other models…
What proton needs now is a new model to replace both waja & persona ( a very thin line between these two) and a supermini
what proton should make is a waja replacement model with 3 different body styles…
sedan for the common man
hatchback / aeroback for european wannabees..
and an estate for ppl who like to run up n down to tesco/Ikea
Its cheaper since you could use the same platform n shenanigans…
im with shawal
the thing is malaysia is a sedan country.
almost everyone wants a sedan.
however, things may change
as the rise of the MPV has shown.
My saga left hand side door handle just broke despite the right hand side handle just broke one month ago and the car still less than 1 year old… … …
do india open market for foreign manufacture?
seem like just can access by JV.
shawal said,
January 5, 2010 @ 3:14 am
Saga is THEE best proton car by far , it justifies the price , it has more rear leg room than the persona (I’ve tested personally with my buddy in the showroom , he’s 181, i’m 178) , the plastics is slightly better than sa savvy and the boot is huge.., More money proton makes , more likely (likely) better funding in R&D, SAGA and EXORA , dont export any other models…
What proton needs now is a new model to replace both waja & persona ( a very thin line between these two) and a supermini
…….
an also hot hatch to replace neo
maybe rebagde the sister lancer gt
…….
an also hot hatch to replace neo
maybe rebagde the sisters lancer gt
Look at it! It just shouts 'i'm a blurdy cheap and dull car'. Yeah, it targeted for that market, but it does have to shout it out via its design ques!
I'm no fan of the current saga, but i agree with paul, its way-way better looking! And yes, proton should look at this as a case study in wanting to penetrate the Indian market…
i never drive gen2,waja or persona..(neo only for few km), but i always drive blm(my gf owns blm) the car is good actually. yeah..actaully gen2,persona and waja should be replace with one new model..yep ONE new model. so we'll have one supermini(savvy,this one need replacement too), one budget sedan(blm), hatchback(neo), sedan(persona),exec sedan(perdana) and mpv(exora).
A Clio-based car which fails in India. Hope that Saga don't suffer from it (since Saga is Savvy-based)
MAN!!! That is one really UGLY car.
Logan's poor sales in India is a product-local market legislation compatibility issue. India's vehicle duty calculation also takes into account the vehicle length, but it is not as rigid as Japan's system.
Cars shorter than 4m are classified as a small car, and is levied with a lower excise duty. In the Indian context, the Logan is not a very strong value proposition compared to Maruti's hatchbacks.
M&M tried to lobby for Renault to shorten the length of the car but obviously the engineering and tooling cost involved would be too high to even be considered.
Totally agree with shawal.. Btw i still hoping that proton will come up with neo 4 doors.. Is going to be like Malaysia 1st golf GTI.. hehehe…
When will proton enter India? Dont they take forever to decide on the partner?
Just wonder will the partnership be like China's Europestar or more like dealership kind of thing like in Thai…
exterior design saga is much, much, much better. logan looks old school, dashboard design. both look similar
from the past pics posted here in PT,
i think logan's outlook is too outdated, tasteless.
simple geometry is easy to manufacture,
but what is the benefit of manufacturing at a loss?
though it seems cheap, but the looks is awful.
i rather say that those tiny vintage-looked cars in the tamil movies are more cute than logan.
cheap car yes, cheap look no.
Tata Nano is real contender.
Indian market dominator.
now who wanna said National Car is a bad idea?
"You’d think that the Logan would do well in India but for some reason the Mahindra Renault Logan flopped. Last year’s sales only justified a production run of well under 20,000 units per annum – less than a third of Mahindra’s planned capacity of 50,000 units. The Mahindra Renault JV lost 4.9 billion rupees in the 2008/09 financial year."
Even at reduced volume of 20k/yr, Mahindra does not see fit to increase local content because of it being economically unfeasible.
On the flipside, Proton has 7 models….(ok maybe 6 1/2 since the Persona and Gen2 is the same thing….yet can "economically produce them" or can they?
The problem with the Logan its stuck between market demographics and stuck behind restrictive duti structures. Wonder why Mahindra doen't bring the Dacia Sandero, which is the same thing, just shorter. Isn't the Saga the same lenght therefore run into the same duty issues?
this looks much better than the saga
bull-cart is the still the best selling car in bharat
Since everyone is trying to sell small cars, Savvy is the answer, but Saga could be the cheapest sedan in India too. (Savvy not base on clio platform, it is entirely new).
The only thing that can harm Proton's success in India is 'Made in Malaysia' tag.
If some how Proton team succeeds overcome this they surely be successful
Akso my own feeling is Proton should not introduce the conventional automobiles in India as market is already flooded with conventionals with brands like Honda , Toyota , Renault ,TATA , Chevrolet..
so i saga wil have duty issue(because of >4m), better dont bring them, better bring that persona to compete with city ,,, what about savvy,,is savy can survice in indian market? imagine savy compete with i10, what i know hyundai have a good resale value in india, correct me if i am wrong… touch decision to made i guess, hope p1 have some luck
Mazda 3 WTF said,
January 5, 2010 @ 2:02 pm
this looks much better than the saga
____________________________________________________________________________
Paul said,
"the Saga looks way better than the Logan"
this is a proof that some bashers are idiot..
especially the one called Mazda 3 WTF …
& her sidekick Mrs LittleFire..
Yup, India is a strong growth corridor and this car would have sold very well if they had launched it 15 years ago.
Do you find the logan a Tiara lookalike?
Anyway its dated.
Proton, may lead the market if they are able to give better quality. There are now more competitions esp. japanese makers are penetrating into india too. e.g.Toyota Etios, Honda supermini concept and etc. Since India market wants cheap and good, Proton should give it a try. Mass Produce with good quality and pentrate it worldwide thus production cost will run low once good selling. Making the brand a known brand since they are also going into Motorsport. MC=MR Theory
Since they have this less than 4m thingy, give them a redesigned savvy change the rear and side doors design, (to say, the front design is quite nice frankly speaking. Can remain) with better plastics interior, Proton may even surpass suzuki and daihutsu in supermini. Since now the world have craze over small cars, this would also serve in europe and in singpore (Taking over Suzuki Swift.)
Last words, Proton Keep in up and improve.
Mazda 3 is indonesian guy .. no wonder he hates anything malaysian.
Savvy mileage is how much? ( the test mileage by any testing organisation )
Like ARAI in India.
If Proton can make a Sedan within 4m length , has a good chance to compete.
Savvy will be nothing but an another hatch in Indian market.
Fiat MJD/Quadrajet diesel powered hatches are hot favorites of India market.
Mazda 3 is the worst basher ever…he's blind..haha..he can't compare the Logan and Saga properly..awww…too baddd..u sucks..!!..haha..well,all Indonesian are stupid comparing the cars..no wonder their country dnt have their own car..haha..all they know bashing other cars and being rude in MALAYSIAN blog..
hey….still got Indonesian use Proton cars…for example Acha Septriasa,the Indonesian singer using her Persona seems she's studying at Lim Kok Wing University…haha…that is the one of proof Proton still lead the market…and also proof that MAZDA 3 MPS IS BLIND GUY…trust me..he's blind!!!..omg..