Renault is French, and so, it is different. The carmaker thinks differently, plans differently and does things differently too. So, while other manufacturers paid lip service to setting up design and styling studios in India, Renault actually set up two. The Mumbai design studio was started in 2008 and the one in Chennai, along with a full-fledged workshop, went online earlier this year.
The Mumbai outfit’s first job was the Logan prototype, which the company produced with help from Indian designer DC. Dilip Chhabria was also quite heavily involved in the making of several other show cars for Renault and he helped with the Twizzy concepts for the Auto Expo as well. Slowly, the design team started working on larger and larger projects, like full-fledged facelifts, updates and special bits for new cars to be launched in India, like the Lodgy’s new grille.
The Kwid, however, presented a huge challenge. This is because the project was both Indian as well as French. Most of the data collection, however, was done from here, on the ground. It had to be. Renault was keen on an immersive experience for its design team. It wanted the design staff to be drowning in the local culture and local tastes, and there was a special emphasis on what Indian customers disliked too. This is how they discovered what Indian customers really meant when they said they wanted more car for their money. And it’s also why Renault understood what Indian car buyers wanted most of all; to skip a whole class and reach up for that car that would only logically come to them three or four years down the road. And how did the team finally decide on the crossover shape for the Kwid? “When you are in India, and your ears are open, it is just obvious,” emphasises Mumbai studio boss Patrick Lecharpy.
The actual design process happened really quick after the crossover shape was chosen. “The way we work today, the ‘masala’ is moved back and forth between India and France, so we have the best of both, with lots of India, but plenty of Renault too,” says Lecharpy.
