Mumbai : When the three-year-old joint venture between Indian auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and French carmaker Renault came to an end, the future of the JV's lone product, the Logan, was uncertain. Sales were headed southward, and customers were neither sure about the continuity of the venture nor the positioning of the model.

But Logan sales picked up ever since Renault has parted ways with M&M. Compared to 303 units that the JV sold in April, Logan sales more than doubled to 752 units in July.

A top M&M official told reporters that a string of factors - from price cuts to re-positioning of the brand in the 'C' segment, a focused customer group and greater customer confidence - has pushed up the numbers. M&M is now eyeing to cross the four-digit monthly mark soon. Logan now competes with Maruti Suzuki's Swift Dzire, Hyundai's Verna, Ford's Fiesta and Tata Motors' Indigo.

Soon after Renault quit the JV, M&M started working towards getting its marketing strategy right, Arun Malhotra, senior VP, sales & customer care, told reporters. Within days of announcing to buy out Renault's stake, there was a flurry of on-field activities at M&M, like re-training salesmen, talking to dealers and visiting corporates, apart from slashing the price.