Renault India allocates over half its marketing budget to digital, says Francisco Hidalgo

The Indian automotive market has demonstrated notable growth in FY25, with passenger vehicle sales increasing by 4.9% Y-O-Y and total vehicle registrations reaching 26 million. This is fueled by rising rural incomes and surging consumer demand. In this environment, Renault India once commanded attention with products that created segments; the Kwid made a significant impact when it launched a decade ago, and the Duster pioneered the compact SUV category before it became mainstream. However, the brand's market share dropped to 1% in 2023, down from 2% in 2022, as it went four years without launching a new car. 

Francisco Hidalgo, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, acknowledges that this pause led to lost momentum in a market where consumers demand constant innovation, prompting the launch of the 'Renault. Rethink.' strategy. The company has since acquired its Chennai plant, renovated dealerships under the 'R Store' concept, and launched refreshed versions of the Triber and Kiger to signal its return.

With this, digital channels now consume more than half of Renault India's marketing budget, Hidalgo reveals, making it the primary medium for reaching consumers. He explains that television and OTT platforms handle awareness campaigns, such as advertising during the Cricket Asia Cup, while digital platforms enable segmentation by lifestyle, family structure, and geography to drive showroom visits. Print media, particularly regional newspapers with dealer contact numbers, continues to generate calls, Hidalgo notes, a trend native to India. During product launches, television spending increases temporarily due to the medium's scale, but Hidalgo emphasises that digital remains the foundation for generating hundreds of thousands of leads monthly.

According to Hidalgo, the festive season delivered September as Renault's strongest month, with October showing similar momentum. He attributes this to the timing of new car launches coinciding with the season and the implementation of revised GST rates. The Triber and Kiger drove this performance, driven by consumer appetite for updated models during a period when buyers make purchase decisions.

By FY27, Renault India targets a 3% market share, requiring the brand to triple its current position through new product launches in the ₹10-20 lakh segment and expansion beyond its rural base into urban centres. In this interview, Hidalgo also discusses experiential marketing tactics, the company's showroom transformation strategy, lessons from managing brands across Europe and Asia, and trends shaping the Indian auto market, including SUV demand and the gradual transition toward hybrid and electric vehicles.

Edited Excerpts:

Under your leadership, Renault India is undergoing a shift from volume-driven to value-led growth as part of ‘renault. rethink.’ Could you walk us through the pillars of your overall marketing strategy? 

Renault has seen some strong moments in India in the past. When we launched the Kwid a decade ago, it made a massive impact, and the Duster was a true segment creator; it pioneered the compact SUV category before it became mainstream. We’ve had some significant highs in the Indian market, but in recent years, we were somewhat out of the game. To be very open, we didn’t launch any new cars for around four years.

In a market like India, which thrives on novelty, freshness, and new features, that pause meant we lost some momentum. That’s why, a few months ago, we launched our ‘Renault. Rethink.’ strategy. The name itself signifies self-awareness, acknowledging that what we were doing earlier wasn’t working as well as it could have. It’s about being transparent and making a decisive shift.

The strategy stands on three pillars. First, from a business standpoint, it’s about full commitment to India. This is a fast-evolving, demanding market, and you can’t operate here half-heartedly; you either go all in or not at all. We’ve chosen to go all in. We’ve fully acquired our Chennai plant, which is a massive investment, and we’re renovating all our showrooms and dealerships with the new ‘Art Store’ concept.

The second pillar is rethinking our product strategy, going back to what we do best: bringing innovative, distinctive products that truly make a difference. We’ve recently launched the new Triber and Kiger, which have received encouraging traction. And we have several exciting launches lined up in the coming weeks that we believe will strengthen our position further.

Ultimately, it is about getting people to pay attention to Renault again. Some may have forgotten about us, even though they remember the golden days. Our goal is to remind them that Renault is back, and back with serious intent.

How is this philosophy shaping the way you approach marketing spends, creative storytelling, and brand experiences in India? Could you walk me through your media mix and spends? Could you share which medium gets the most attention right now?

Each medium plays a distinct role in our marketing mix. After two to three years, we’re back on television, especially digital and OTT platforms, which remain critical for building awareness. TV doesn’t allow for much personalisation, but it’s powerful for visibility. For instance, we recently advertised during the Cricket Asia Cup to simply tell people, “There’s a new Renault car — take a look.” It’s about announcing our presence.

Digital, on the other hand, is where we focus on precision and personalisation. We segment audiences deeply and tailor our communication to different lifestyles, family structures, or regions, explaining why a model like the Kiger is relevant for each segment. The goal is to drive people to our showrooms, which are being redesigned to offer a completely new brand experience.

Interestingly, print media continues to hold relevance in India, unlike many other markets. Whenever we advertise in newspapers, especially regional ones, we include the phone number of the nearest dealer. The number of calls we receive from these ads is still impressive. That’s what makes India unique: it’s both highly digital and deeply local. Our approach combines mass and local media to ensure people connect with Renault across all touchpoints.

In terms of spends, digital is clearly our primary channel and receives more than half of our marketing budget. Depending on the time of year or a major launch, TV gets a larger share temporarily due to its cost and scale.

But overall, digital remains our biggest and most effective medium, generating hundreds of thousands of leads and prospects every month through our online activations.

Could you walk me through your target audience? Which geographies are you present in across India? Does the messaging differ for these audiences?

Our target audience is closely tied to the products we offer. In recent years, models like the Kwid and Triber have been very rural-oriented, appealing to customers with lower purchasing power who seek strong value for money. The Triber, in particular, has been popular in rural areas for offering a seven-seater with an attractive design under a respected brand, something unique in the market.

The Kiger targets a younger, more urban audience. Its Turbo 100 engine, paired with CVT, appeals especially to young professionals and women.

With our upcoming products, we aim to expand our audience further. Most of our current cars are priced under ₹10 lakh, but a large portion of the market lies in the ₹10–20 lakh segment. Our new launches will cater to this bracket, offering larger, better-equipped cars, targeting customers with higher purchasing power, mainly in urban and top-tier cities. This allows us to maintain our rural strength while increasing visibility in urban centres.

The core messaging remains the same across segments. The way this translates differs by segment; a small car priced around ₹5–6 lakh emphasises different benefits than a higher-end car priced at ₹15–20 lakh. While the content varies according to product and price point, the brand promise itself remains consistent.

You have rich experience across Europe and Asia, including leading Dacia in Spain/Portugal and other markets. How have those experiences shaped your approach at Renault India? 

I’ve spent the last 25 years living and working abroad, in the U.S., France, South Korea, Eastern Europe, Russia, Spain, and now India. The biggest lesson I’ve learned from working across such diverse markets is realising how little I initially know when entering a new country. It’s a humbling experience that teaches you to observe, listen, and truly understand how people live before assuming what they want.

Every culture is different, and paying attention to those nuances is key. I’ve learned to watch, listen, and interpret, to understand why people do what they do and what truly matters to them. Once you grasp that, you can shape your message and products in a way that feels authentic and relevant.

In every country I’ve worked, people have told me, “You understand Koreans so well,” or “You understand Russians or Indians so well.” The truth is, I don’t know them; I observe them. I listen, I empathise, and I communicate in a way that feels meaningful and real, backed by proof and purpose.

So when I talk about Renault being a brand that transforms and brings new concepts, it’s not just marketing, it’s rooted in history and credibility. When I speak about how a car can improve daily life for a family, it resonates because it’s true and relevant. At the end of the day, whether it’s India, Russia, Korea, Spain, or the U.S., people are people. Their cultures may differ, but their emotions, aspirations, and need for genuine connection remain the same.

The recent gamified billboard / experiential activation for the Renault Kiger (e.g. the gaming activation in Gurugram) is an interesting case. How do you view the role of experiential marketing in deepening customer connections, especially for younger, tech-savvy audiences?

Experiential marketing is extremely important. In recent years, marketing trends have swung heavily toward digital, sometimes to the point of becoming digital only. I believe that’s a mistake. The real power comes from combining digital with physical experiences to create something truly engaging.

For example, with the Renault Kiger activation, we didn’t just want to show a video on a billboard. We wanted to make it interactive. Instead of a regular display, we turned the billboard into a game that people could actually play on their phones or computers. In Gurugram’s CyberHub, we created a massive digital billboard with a QR code that allowed people to scan and play the game live on the big screen, in front of everyone.

That blend of digital engagement and physical participation is where the magic happens. It brings excitement, community, and memorability: qualities that resonate especially with younger, tech-savvy audiences. The response was fantastic, and we plan to continue exploring this fusion of digital and physical experiences.

Renault's new visual identity has been rolled out in showrooms in Ambattur, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, etc. How central is this revamp to Renault’s brand strategy? How do these elements contribute to strengthening brand perception, and what early insights have you gained from the rollout?

People perceive branding as just empty words without real substance. For me, a brand becomes powerful only when it’s meaningful, relevant, and backed by tangible proof. That’s exactly what we’re doing with our strategy.

When we introduced the new logo, it wasn’t just a cosmetic change. Renault is 125 years old, and we haven’t changed our logo many times in our history. Updating it now marks a significant step. But a logo alone isn’t enough. To make a brand change credible, especially in the automotive business, the experience and products must evolve too.

Our showrooms are a vital part of this transformation. Traditionally, showrooms functioned like parking lots where customers compared models and gathered information. Today, most of that discovery happens online through virtual tools and 3D views. By the time customers visit a dealership, they often know more than the salesperson.

However, the purchase and delivery moments remain deeply emotional, especially in India. That’s why we’re reimagining our dealerships, turning them from transactional spaces into experiential ones. We want people to feel at home when they step into a Renault showroom, to feel welcomed into the Renault family.

In our new ‘R Store’ design, the focus isn’t just on the cars. The heart of the showroom is the seating area, a warm, comfortable space for families to relax, share, and enjoy the experience together. 

How is this year shaping up in terms of business performance? Could you shed light on how the media mix is evolving in the upcoming financial year? What percentage of the ad/marketing budget do you intend to devote to different mediums? 

This year has been unusual, with a mix of internal and market factors affecting business. In the first half, our products were at the end of their life cycles, so our focus was more on sales-driven, tactical activities rather than media presence. By May and June, we shifted to brand-building, introducing the ‘Renault. Rethink.’ strategy and communicate more about our image than sales.

In July and August, with the launch of two new cars, our media mix changed again; we returned to TV and focused on brand awareness and image building rather than tactical messaging. Then, the mid-August GST announcement created a pause, as the market temporarily held back, making that period quieter in terms of marketing.

We entered a particularly intense period with the peak festive season, the new GST implementation, and the launch of our freshest range of cars aligned simultaneously. Looking ahead, as the festive season winds down, the market will stabilise, and our focus will continue to be on branding and new product launches.

Our approach for the upcoming months and years is clear: we will continue investing in the brand consistently, but around new product launches, all our efforts will concentrate on awareness and being highly visible. We plan to launch products regularly, creating a steady rhythm that drives both media strategy and customer engagement.

The festive season is critical for automakers. How is this season panning out for Renault, and what role is the new marketing approach playing in shaping festive demand and sales momentum?

The season is going very well. Since launching our cars two to three months ago, we’ve seen a consistent growth trend, and we’re still in the ramp-up phase, which is expected to continue.

In a market like India, where the festive season is so significant, it’s challenging to predict exactly how it will end. However, we’re seeing a huge number of prospects that we hadn’t seen in years.

September was our best month in several years, and October appears to be following a similar trajectory.

The last week of September was very strong, and combined with the launch of new cars, it created an ideal situation for us. We were fortunate to have our newest models, the Triber and Kiger, in the market at that time, which matched perfectly with customer demand for freshness and novelty. Both models had very strong months, and so far, October is performing even better than September, so the trend continues to improve.

Even with a week still left in the season, developments are happening daily. We’re very optimistic because we see strong traction. 

Which industry trends do you believe will most strongly shape the Indian auto market over the next few years?

The Indian auto market has been somewhat subdued in recent years due to factors like tariffs and inflation. With the new GST and more affordable car prices, we’re already seeing dormant demand being released, which is likely to boost the market in the medium to long term. More people, especially from the lower end of the market, will be able to access new cars, while existing buyers may upgrade to better-equipped models.

SUVs continue to be extremely popular, and that trend is expected to persist. India remains a feature-driven market, with strong demand for increasingly sophisticated features. However, there may be a point of stabilisation, as adding more features also raises prices. Buyers will eventually prioritise the features they truly need.

Fuel and engine types will also shape the future. Diesel’s share may continue to decline due to reduced availability, while petrol remains strong. Electric vehicles (EVs) will gradually increase their market share, but adoption will be slow, as it has been globally. Hybrid technology, still in its early stages in India, is likely to drive the transition toward electrification.

Looking ahead three years, what are your marketing goals, short-term or long-term goals?

Our marketing goals are twofold. First, we aim for a significant increase in sales. While I won’t share exact volumes, the target is to quickly return to the levels we achieved a few years ago, when we sold over 100,000 cars annually.

This growth will be driven by new products, better market coverage, and stronger brand presence.

Second, we want to transform the perception of the Renault brand in India. The goal is to align the Indian brand more closely with Renault’s global identity, creating new segments and experiences that reflect the innovation and quality seen in markets like Europe, South America, and Korea. Essentially, we want people in India to rethink Renault and recognise it as a brand that delivers relevance, value, and excitement.