Renault India plans to roll out CNG-fitted Triber MPV by December

Renault India to launch CNG model of Triber, focusing on alternative fuel vehicles to expand market share.

Renault India is working on introducing a compressed natural gas (CNG) model of its compact mini-purpose vehice (MPV) Triber, according to a top company official.

“We are developing alternative fuel based vehicles that can run on CNG or battery. The former would be rolled out by the year end,” said CEO and MD Venkatram Mamillapalle during an interaction.

Stating Renault had a strong market for its diesel cars in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, he said the company’s presence in the North was limited as it was dominated by EVs and CNG-fitted cars. Hence, Renault was gearing up to unveil CNG-fitted cars as the next step to improve its market share in the North.

According to him, CNG cars had huge demand in Gujarat, Haryana, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu and North Karnataka. Triber will be the first car to get fitted with a CNG kit and it will be produced at Oragadam plant.

While introducing the Night and Day limited edition of the popular models for the festive season, he said they will continue to produce all the existing models for a few years as Triber enjoyed monopoly status. Kwid had only two players in the segment while Kiger had several competitors.

Asked about the pile up of unsold stocks, he said: “Renault inventory is at minimum level when compared with others. There will be high demand for new cars during festival season that would helps us to liquidate sizeable inventory.”

The CEO said Renault-Nissan was on track to introduce five new vehicles in the coming years at an investment of ₹5,300 crore, of which 70% had already been invested. It included four Internal Combustion Engine vehicles and one EV.