Renault bets on a French CEO and an old favourite to kick-start its India comeback

Renault India’s Stephane Deblaise, who took over as chief executive in September, is the only foreigner heading a major European automaker’s operations in India. BMW, Mercedes, Volvo Cars and Volkswagen Group all have Indians running their domestic operations.

According to Groupe Renault chief growth officer Fabrice Cambolive, the decision to appoint 52-year-old Deblaise was part of the French auto giant’s strategy to give more power to the Indian team in global decision-making.

“We have to give power to the country. And if we want to give power to the country, Stephane is perhaps in a position to impose that on the corporate side. Because he knows the corporate side,” Cambolive said. Mint in an interview. “In India, he can take power and bring power. This is very important from a governance perspective.” The global growth chief added that the company does not have fixed rules on appointments and they mainly depend on market conditions.

“It was important to have a very good diversity in the Indian team. And frankly, when I look at all the structures, I see that the head of engineering is an Indian. Operations are done by Indians for Indians. But Stephane will bring this capacity to strengthen the country,” Cambolive added.

japanese taste

For over a decade, Renault’s operations in India have been run by Indian executives such as Sumit Sawhney and Venkatram Mamillapalle. While the latter remains managing director of Renault India, all Renault entities in the country report to Deblaise, who reports directly to Renault Group CEO Francois Provost.

Renault’s strategy to hire a foreign CEO mirrors the structure of Japanese automakers such as Maruti Suzuki, Toyota Kirlosokar and Honda Cars; In all of these, Japanese managers manage operations in India. Korean automaker Hyundai Motor India followed the same script for more than two decades before Indian chief executive Tarun Garg took control in January.

Before taking over as general manager in India, Deblaise held various positions with Renault in Asian and Latin American markets in countries such as China, Brazil and South Korea. he said Mint His experience in Asian markets and Brazil has also been useful in the Indian market, as customers in these markets are very value conscious when purchasing vehicles.

“The market understands that we sell value. But it’s difficult at a very good price. That’s why we’re fully integrated now. That’s what we’ll do in the next few years; sell value at the best price in the market. That’s a big lesson,” Deblaise said.

past master

One of Deblaise’s biggest challenges is to ensure the success of the Duster, which the French automaker introduced in India once again on Monday after its production was halted in 2022, a decade after its debut in 2012. The vehicle faces competition from the Tata Sierra, Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki Victoris, Kia Seltos and other bestsellers in the mid-size SUV market.

Cambolive explained why the company learned from Duster’s past success and eventually had to discontinue the product. “We have two big differences. First, five years ago we could not develop cars in less than five years. Now we are developing cars in less than two years. This is a game changer,” Cambolive said.

“The second point is our capacity to comprehensively use a dedicated platform for a variety of models with maximum flexibility. If I take the Duster platform as an example, you can produce smaller and larger cars. This means you can meet the needs of the market much more comprehensively than before,” he added. Both executives also added that the introduction of hybrid technology in the Duster could attract more consumers.

In March 2025, Renault announced that it had taken full control of the 480,000-unit-per-year production facility it operates with Nissan in Chennai. While the facility continues to help the operations of both Renault and Nissan, the company believes it now has much more flexibility in making decisions about production and products.

Fighting apathy

Renault is attempting a recovery after its market share fell below 1% in 2025, when retail sales fell 10% to 36,420 units.

Deblaise’s primary task will be to figure out how to maintain momentum for the company’s products, analysts said. Gaurav Vangaal, deputy director of light vehicle production forecasting at S&P Global, said the lack of momentum after the launch of new products is the key issue for Renault.

“If we look at Renault’s history, Duster did well in its first two years before sales started falling as competition from legitimate OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) increased. The same story repeated across all its products and this is a problem the company needs to resolve if it wants to increase its market share in the country,” Vangaal said. he said. He added that if the new Duster wants to be successful, the local government needs to be more aggressive in its sales strategy and create a good after-sales experience for customers.