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Renault has not given up on China, but has upgraded

From:Internet Info Agency 2020-04-30 16:51:01

Renault Group transferred its shares in Dongfeng Renault Automobile Co., Ltd. to Dongfeng Automobile Group Co., Ltd. on April 14. Dongfeng Renault, which has just entered its seventh year, has drawn a rest. In 2019, Renault Group China was established, becoming one of the five major regions in the world, and its market position was further improved. However, at this time Renault chose to stop the business of the joint venture company. What is the intention?

However, behind Renault's change, it was not to abandon the Chinese market, but to change the "direction" of efforts. On the surface, Renault seems to be taking a step back, but if it does not account for the short-term gains and losses, it will harvest two potential markets, namely the electric vehicle market and the light commercial vehicle market.

Furthermore, the essence of what Renault is doing now is no different from the ultimate purpose of other brands' transition to electrification and intelligence. Renault hopes to take a new path in the Chinese market as a leader in European electric vehicles and light commercial vehicles.

Renault Group, as Europe's largest manufacturer of electric vehicles, grew 23.5% in the global electric vehicle market in 2019, with a cumulative sales of 62,447 new vehicles. In January 2020, Renault sold a total of 10,819 electric vehicles in the European market, with monthly sales exceeding 10,000 for the first time. In February, it reached 7,485 vehicles, a substantial increase of 88% year-on-year. Over the past decade, the Renault Group has sold nearly 270,000 electric vehicles worldwide.

China is currently the world's largest electric vehicle market, and it is also the frontier battlefield for major auto companies to promote new energy strategies. According to data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), total sales of NEVs in China reached 1.206 million in 2019, of which BEV were 972,000 units and PHEV 232,000 units. By 2030, electric vehicle sales will account for 25% of China's total auto market sales.


In August 2017, Renault-Nissan Alliance and Dongfeng Group established eGT. The joint venture company plans to produce electric vehicles in the Dongfeng automobile production base in Shiyan City, Hubei Province, and its production and sales scale is expected to reach 120,000 units per year. In the future, Renault Group will focus on R & D and production in the field of new energy vehicles. At the same time, Renault will further strengthen cooperation in the joint venture project with Nissan and Dongfeng.

The Renault Group plans to make Renault City K-ZE a global model. The car entered the Chinese market at the end of 2019 and sold 2,658 units in just two months. eGT is currently developing the European version of Renault City K-ZE, which is based on the "Dacia Spring" concept and is expected to be officially launched in the European market in 2021.

In addition, in July 2019, Renault Group increased its capital by 1 billion yuan and became a shareholder of Jiangling Group New Energy Automobile Company, with a 50% stake. Through this joint venture project, Renault hopes to further expand its influence in China's new energy vehicle market. Next, Jiangling Group New Energy will introduce Renault's advanced quality management system and technology and launch 4 core models by 2022, covering 45% of the main models in the Chinese electric vehicle segment.

Renault is a leader in the European van and electric light commercial vehicles, ranking first in the European electric light commercial vehicle market for nine consecutive years. In 2019, the Renault Group's light commercial vehicle segment once again set a new sales record. This record is due to the Renault brand's 3.6% growth in the European light commercial vehicle market, especially the Kangoo ZE model, with annual sales of 10,349 vehicles, a year-on-year increase 19.2%.

According to CAAM data, the cumulative sales volume of the domestic commercial vehicle market in 2019 was 4.324 million units, down 1.1% year-on-year. In detail, the annual sales of light commercial vehicles reached 3.3 million units, maintaining an upward trend. It can be seen that, benefiting from the rebound in infrastructure investment, the elimination of National III vehicles, and the rapid development of the logistics industry, the performance of the commercial vehicle market is significantly better than that of the passenger vehicle market.

Especially in the logistics industry, which is closely related to the development of light commercial vehicles, in recent years, driven by the rapid development of the new retail model of e-commerce, it has gradually shown a trend of standardization, automation, informatization, and electrification. It also means that light commercial vehicles The intensity of use will be greater and greater, and the market still has a lot of room to rise.


Moreover, as a rigid demand market, the light commercial vehicle market will not be as susceptible to interference from external factors as the passenger car market. Therefore, the Renault Group is optimistic about the Chinese commercial vehicle market. In the new development strategy, Brilliance Renault Jinbei Automobile Co., Ltd., established in December 2017, will become an important support for Renault Group to develop light commercial vehicle business in China.

The Jinbei brand has 1.5 million users in China and has been the No. 1 sales player in the LCV field for 19 consecutive years. In 2019, Jinbei Automobile exported to 15 countries and regions, including Chile, Peru, and Egypt, with sales up 160% year-on-year. Next, Brilliance Renault Gold Cup will introduce Renault Group's advanced technology and management experience to realize the modernization and transformation of Jinbei products.

In addition, Renault Brilliance Jinbei will further expand its product line and launch five core competitive models by 2023. It is expected that by the end of this year, the Jinbei brand will launch a new LCV model. At the same time, accelerating the local production of Renault models, the introduction of Master, Trafic and other models is being carried out in an orderly manner, and mass production is expected to be achieved in the next year. 

With the introduction of Renault's advanced management and technology, Brilliance Renault's exports have increased significantly. Brilliance Renault Jinbei Automobile Co., Ltd. exported more than 4,000 vehicles overseas last year, an increase of 160% over the previous year. At present, Jinbei’s products have been exported to 16 countries around the world.

The dissolution of Dongfeng Renault is not the final chapter of Renault, but a necessary move to actively seek strategic transformation. Withdrawing from the fierce competition and the difficulty of recovering the strong fuel vehicle market in the short term, focusing resources and energy on its own advantages, in the long run, it is actually a step back and two steps forward.

Editor:Xi Xiaolin