Renault Nissan becomes the largest automobile manufacturer, above Toyota and Volkswagen

For long now, two automobile manufacturers who have always been on the lead when it comes to being the largest are Toyota and Volkswagen. But now that has changed as the Renault-Nissan alliance with its sales of 5.26 million vehicles in the first half of 2017, has overtaken Toyota and Volkswagen who sold 5.12 million and 5.15 million units respectively. These three brands are leading over General Motors. The American automobile manufacturer, one of the world leaders in production, clocked a sales of 4.7 million units.

The Renault Nissan alliance has cross-shareholdings and also utilize each others resources when it comes to technology development and marketing activities

It should be also noted that the other three brands mentioned above have individual shareholders and a single board. The Renault Nissan alliance has cross-shareholdings and also utilise each other's resources when it comes to technology development and marketing activities. The Renault-Nissan alliance managed to get the top spot over Volkswagen, Toyota and also the General Motors with its acquisition of Japanese automobile brand Mitsubishi, wherein Nissan got 34 per cent stake last year.

The two models that have worked really well for the alliance in Europe are the Renault Zoe and the Nissan Leaf along with the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid. The alliance has sold over 4.81 lakh units of EVs making it the highest from any automobile group in the world.

The new Kwid also packs in new features including integrated reverse parking camera, rear seat armrest, and a 12V socket

Meanwhile in India, Renault India recently launched the updated-for-2018 Kwid in the country, at a price of Rs 2.66 lakh (ex-showroom) for the base Standard trim. The new Kwid also packs in new features including integrated reverse parking camera, rear seat armrest, and a 12V socket. In terms of safety, Renault India has also added emergency locking retractors (ELR) for the rear seatbelts, which allows the rear seat belt to freely extend and retract with occupant movement, yet locks the belt during a sudden stop or upon impact. The Nissan Kicks crossover SUV has been spotted testing under camouflage for the first time in India ahead of its launch in early 2019.

Source: Fortune.com