Nalin Mehta appointed Chief Operating Officer of Mahindra Renault Pvt. Ltd.

Mumbai: Mahindra Renault Pvt. Ltd. (MRPL), a joint venture between Mahindra & Mahindra and Renault S.A. of France, today announced the appointment of Mr. Nalin Mehta as Chief Operating Officer. As COO of MRPL, Mr. Mehta will oversee the Sales & Marketing, Supply Chain Management and Logistics and Quality functions of the company. He will be reporting to Mr. Rajesh Jejurikar, Managing Director, Mahindra Renault Private Limited.

The past one year has been very successful for MRPL with its maiden product, the Logan emerging as a strong competitor in the Indian passenger car space with a market share of 12% in the C segment. The Logan has also won several prestigious accolades from consumers as well as the media.

The Mahindra Renault Logan was launched in April 2007 and since then has performed exceedingly well despite stiff competition and tough market conditions. India’s first wide body passenger car has also received several distinctions since its launch eight months ago. With respect to product performance, the Logan outclassed all its competitors in the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2007 India Initial Quality Study. The Logan was ranked as the ‘Best Entry Midsize Car in Initial Quality’, with a score of 65 PP100, i.e., problems per 100 vehicles ahead of other leading passenger cars, indicating a high level of satisfaction experienced by customers.

The 2007 four-wheeler total customer satisfaction study undertaken by leading market information provider, TNS, ranked the Mahindra Renault Logan Diesel at the top of the ‘Midsize Car – Diesel’ segment with an exceptional score of 96. The Logan Petrol achieved No. 2 position with 86 points in the Entry Midsize segment.

The Logan was also named the ‘Car of the Year 2007’ by HT Cars & Bikes, a supplement of the Hindustan Times and also recently won the Business Standard Motoring Jury Award 2008. The icing on the cake was the ‘Midsize Car of the Year’ Award received at the NDTV Profit Car India & Bike India Awards.

In February 2005 Mahindra & Mahindra and Renault decided to join forces to produce and commercialize the Logan in India. The joint venture is a 51:49 partnership between Mahindra & Mahindra and Renault.

The state-of-the-art Logan facility offers a body shop, stamping shop, a paint shop with a top quality pre-treatment and an assembly line specific for the Logan. The Mahindra Renault Logan was launched on April 3.

Source :- Machinist , 20th March'08.