Renault Announces Stephane Deblaise As CEO For India
The brand further explained that he will report directly to Francois Provost, Renault Group Chief of Procurement, Partnerships, and Public Affairs Officer.
In addition to his current responsibilities as Managing Director of Renault India Private Limited (RIPL), Venkatram Mamillapalle will support Stephane Deblaise on corporate affairs in India to help structure the Group's mid-term growth strategy in the region.
Stephane Deblaise, 52 years old, is a graduate of Telecom Physique Strasbourg and IFP School. He began his career at Saft Batteries before joining Renault Group in 2000 as an Advanced Process Engineer. Over the past two decades, he has held several key positions across the Group's global operations, including Chief Vehicle Engineer for the Entry Program in Latin America in 2009; Vice President, Product Planning & Programs Mat Dongfeng-Renault in China in 2014; Worldwide C&D Segment Program Director in France in 2017; and Vice President, Renault Group Vehicles and Cross Car Line Program in 2021.
Since 2022, Deblaise has served as CEO of Renault Korea, where he led key transformation initiatives, including positioning the company as a global development and production hub for mid- and large-sized vehicles and modernizing the Busan plant for multi-energy vehicle production.
Mr. Deblaise's appointment to Renault Group India reflects the Group's strong confidence in his leadership and underlines the strategic importance of India as a key pillar in Renault's global growth ambitions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
a day ago
- Mint
Renault's India encore: A ‘one-chef kitchen' strategy for a comeback
French carmaker Renault, which has made little headway in India in its 20 years here, is taking another crack at what it considers a strategically important market. The Paris-based carmaker claims to have learnt from its past mistakes. Renault India will be quick to respond to market needs, make consistent product launches and updates, and decision-making will be routed through one person, managing director Venkatram Mamillapalle said, contrasting it with the near-bureaucratic process earlier when it was married to Nissan. 'Today, we are one chef in the kitchen," he said, referring to Renault naming Stephane Deblaise as India CEO this week. He will take over from 1 September. 'Everything goes into one person or one power centre, and from there, it gets distributed and then cascades back. So, the responsibility and responsiveness will be terrifically good, which wasn't the case earlier," he said. Earlier, decision-making for Renault in India was complicated given its global alliance with Nissan, which also sells cars in India. The two companies will still collaborate in India, with Renault contract-manufacturing for Nissan, but the operations will not be as integrated as before, simplifying India-specific decision making for the French carmaker. Mamillapalle agreed that Renault missed a few tricks in India. For instance, it had launched the Duster and Kwid which turned out to be popular, but failed to maintain the momentum they generated by following up with regular updates and new launches. This was due to a lack of continuous investments in India, which he tied to global issues including financial struggles of the parent during the pandemic outbreak and its strained relationship with Nissan. 'Renault was at a sweet spot when they launched the Duster and Kwid, and later with the Triber and Kiger. But unfortunately, they were not able to sustain it with regular product updates," said Gaurav Vangaal, associate director at S&P Global Mobility, where he leads the light vehicle production forecast practice for the Indian subcontinent. In 2023, when Renault decided to revitalize its India operations after exiting China and Russia, its headquarters in Paris cleared a $600-million budget for four new cars for the country. The first of these was formally unveiled Wednesday as the refreshed edition of Triber, which is Renault's experiment at making a seven-seater car under four metres of length to benefit from India's small-car friendly tax structure. The Triber was launched to a lukewarm response in 2019, selling about 5,000 units a month in its first year against Renault's expectations of 7,000. Sales slowed to about 1,500 units a month as of 2025. Despite this, it manages to be Renault's top-seller in India, pointing to the French company's dismal performance in the country. Renault sold less than 40,000 cars in India in FY25, less than a quarter of what market leader Maruti Suzuki sells in a month. At its peak, it had sold about 135,000 units in FY17 with the success of Kwid and Duster. To remedy this, the company has planned regular product launches and investments in expanding its sales network. This will help it reach more customers across price points and geographical locations, as per Mamillapalle. On the product front, it will focus on SUVs across price points to cater to growing consumer demand for these vehicles, he said. The company did disclose the specifics of its product plans, but Autocar Professional has reported that the four planned launches include the updated Triber, Kiger and Duster as well as Bigster, which would be a seven-seater SUV based on the Duster platform. But getting customers back to its showrooms won't be an easy task for Renault. It will have to tick many boxes to win in a highly competitive market, S&P's Vangaal said. 'When Renault launched Duster, there were only a few SUVs in the market, and that too from the older generation. Today, the market is flooded with new-gen SUVs. Competition is intense and consumers are spoilt for choice," he said. Mamillapalle is unperturbed. 'I've got the biggest marketing agency, which is called product. The products will start getting customer focus, and they will build a brand as well," he said.
NDTV
2 days ago
- NDTV
Renault Triber Facelift Launching Tomorrow With New Logo: Full Details
Renault India is all set to revamp its line-up. While it should have happened much earlier, the brand is doing it rather boldly. The French carmaker will launch the facelifted avatar of its most affordable 7-seater MPV - Renault Triber, in the country tomorrow. The Triber is a practical machine, but was starting to show its age. We expect it to come with rather bold lines with this mid-cycle update. A new teaser of the upcoming Renault Triber has also been released, which showcases a fresh-new Renault logo. Following the Triber, this logo will be seen on all the upcoming models of the brand, including the new Duster, Boreal, Kwid EV, and more. The new logo marks a significant milestone in the company's efforts to transform its brand in India under the 'renault. rethink.' brand transformation. However, the new logo is already part of Renault India marketing campaigns and other assets strategy. Also, the New Visual Identity reflects Renault's transformation into a modern, human-centric, and tech-forward brand. The redesigned logo - a minimalist, interlocked diamond - symbolizes clarity, connection, and continuity, aligning with the brand's global direction and digital-first approach. In fact, the updated logo is already being implemented across all physical touchpoints in India, including dealerships, offices, the manufacturing facility, and the R&D centre. Also Read - Renault Announces Stephane Deblaise As CEO For India Talking of the Triber, it is expected to come with the same powertrain, comprising a 1.0L 3-pot petrol motor, which can be paired to either a 5-speed MT or an AMT. A similar configuration is also available on the Nissan Magnite and belts out a peak power output of 72 Hp along with a rated torque output of 96 Nm.
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- New Indian Express
Renault Group gets new CEO in India as French automaker aims to boost sales in third largest car market
In recent times, Renault has shown intent to increase its presence in India. The carmaker reportedly plans to launch five cars over the next two years, including an electric vehicle and the new Duster to reenter the mid-size SUV segment. The company is expected to launch the facelift of the Triber and Kiger models this week. Renault has also set an ambitious target of having a five per cent market share in the world's third largest car market by sales volume. Deblaise, 52, joined Renault Group in 2000 as Advanced Process Engineer. Over the past two decades, he has held several key positions across the group's global operations. Since 2022, he has served as CEO of Renault Korea, where he led key transformation initiatives. 'Deblaise's appointment to Renault Group India reflects the Group's strong confidence in his leadership and underlines the strategic importance of India as a key pillar in Renault's global growth ambitions,' said Renault in a statement.
