French auto manufacturer Renault unveiled a budget car, the "Logan", for people in poor and emerging countries Wednesday in a venture that runs counter to strategies by rival carmakers which have abandoned such models.
The Logan, which will sell for 5,000 euros (6,000 dollars), was presented to the international press at Renault technical center in Guyancourt, west of Paris.
Renault hopes to sell 700,000 Logans by 2010 as part of its goal to sell four million vehicles overall that year and might offer it eventually in western Europe.
But there are doubts that the concept will be able to replicate the huge successes of cheap "people" cars in years gone past such as the German Volkswagen "beetle" and French Citroen Deux Cheveaux after World War II or even the British Austin Mini in the 1960s.
The Logan has been developed for countries where consumers have limited purchasing power but who nonethless want modern, functional cars without the accessories favoured by drivers in western Europe.
The Logan will initially be manufactured in Romania in factories operated by the Romanian automaker Dacia, which Renault acquired in 1999. But there are also plans for production to take place next year in Russia and Morocco and in Colombia and Iran in 2006 - and possibly in China.
From this autumn the model will be marketed by Dacia in eastern Europe and will later be sold as part of the Renault line in Iran and Russia and possibly Colombia.
In addition, Renault Chairman Louis Schweitzer said Wednesday, the Logan could eventually be marketed in western Europe as well. Schweitzer, due to be succeeded by Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, said that the Logan would be his last new-model launch.
While Renault rivals Chrysler and Citroen have contemplated making low-budget cars for emerging market countries, only Fiat of Italy - with its Palio - has taken such a step, which has yet to pay off as expected.
"Fiat's Palio, destined notably for Brazil, is an example of the stunning failure of a global model," noted a Parisian auto analyst who asked not to be named.