Renault opens biggest design centre outside Europe in India to fast-track local launches

French automaker Renault, on Tuesday, inaugurated a new design centre in India, its largest facility outside Europe. Located within the Renault Nissan Technology & Business Centre in Chennai, it currently accommodates 32 designers, with plans to increase headcount to 40 in the near future.

Laurens van den Acker, Chief Design Officer at Renault, said, “We have been using our design studio to develop vehicles for the European market and are pleased with the design and development capabilities in India.”

Notably, the centre will not only design and support the engineering of five Renault models slated for launch in India over the next five years, but it will also do so at an unprecedented pace.
“Renault’s Indian market is set to grow at a significantly faster rate than the global average. At present, the Total Industry Volume (TIV) in India stands at 4.3 million, and we expect this to increase to 10 million in the near future,” said Venkatram Mamillapalle, Country Managing Director and CEO of Renault India.

In essence, Renault’s new design centre could play a pivotal role in broadening its footprint in India, described by the company’s India chief as “wider, higher, and with a full-range SUV offering.” He added, “All our SUV launches will be designed with Indian customers in mind—their needs, preferences, and priorities.”

Designing upcoming Renault vehicles in India will also boost efficiency, Venkatram explained. Geographically and time zone-wise, India’s position allows design operations to continue while other parts of the world are offline. Moreover, India’s strong talent pool in engineering and design is critical for scaling up the company’s design-engineer-build cycles.

A few weeks ago, Renault announced plans to acquire Nissan’s 51% stake in their Indian joint venture. Venkatram confirmed that the transition would be completed within the next two months.

While Renault is also developing an electric vehicle for the Indian market, Venkatram noted that widespread EV adoption in India remains a few years away. “EVs currently account for less than 2% of the Indian market. We expect this to rise to 10–12% over the next five to seven years,” he said. “Range anxiety and battery autonomy remain key challenges in India’s EV ecosystem.”