Renault Sales Rise as Emerging Markets Offset European Drop
January 18, 2012, 1:11 AM ESTBy Alan Katz and Alex Webb
(Updates with Stoll’s comments beginning in third paragraph.)
Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Renault SA, France’s second-biggest carmaker, reported a 3.6 percent increase in vehicle sales last year as growth in emerging markets more than compensated for delivery declines in Europe.
The manufacturer sold a record 2.72 million cars and light trucks in 2011 compared with 2.63 million a year earlier, Renault, based in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, said today in a statement.
Industrywide vehicle deliveries will increase 4 percent globally this year, held back by a decline of 3 percent to 4 percent in Europe, the carmaker said. Renault expects its own sales in 2012 to increase by 3 percent to 4 percent, Jerome Stoll, head of sales and marketing, told reporters today.
“In an uncertain economic and financial environment, the Renault group has strengths that will stand it in good stead in 2012,” Stoll said. “The year will feature a major product offensive both in Europe and on international markets,” with nine new models and 10 updates of existing versions.
Renault advanced as much as 1.60 euros, or 5.2 percent, to 32.47 euros, the biggest intra-day gain since Dec. 20, and was up 4.4 percent as of 11:42 a.m. in Paris trading, valuing the French carmaker at 9.56 billion euros ($12.2 billion).
Renault scaled back production days toward the end of last year and announced layoffs at its plant in Valladolid, Spain, for 2012. Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said at the Detroit motor show earlier this month that the European auto market may shrink by 3 percent this year.
French Drop
The carmaker’s sales in France fell 7.5 percent in 2011, contributing to a 5.7 percent decline in its deliveries across Europe. Sales outside the region jumped 19 percent, extending a 26 percent increase in 2010, as registrations soared 60 percent in Renault’s Eurasia marketing region, which includes Russia and other former Soviet states.
“In those markets where we are present, we don’t expect to lose any market share in 2012,” Stoll said. “It’s an industry that continues to be pulled by international, which for us means built on Brazil, Russia and a real takeoff of India.”
Ghosn said Jan. 9 that Renault and Japanese affiliate Nissan Motor Co. were weeks away from an agreement to buy control of Russia’s biggest carmaker, OAO AvtoVAZ.
Renault is still in discussions with Dongfeng Motor Group Co. and Chinese authorities to build cars in China, and has “good hope” of signing an agreement this year and start assembling cars in the country starting in 2014 or 2015, Stoll said.
The Renault brand increased sales 6.8 percent in 2011 and accounted for 83 percent of group registrations. Sales at the Dacia division fell 1.8 percent, which Renault attributed primarily to supply constraints caused by the tsunami in Japan in March. The Renault Samsung Motors joint venture’s sales dropped 27 percent.
PSA Peugeot Citroen is France’s biggest automaker.
--Editors: Tom Lavell, Chad Thomas.
To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Katz in Paris at akatz5@bloomberg.net; Alex Webb in Frankfurt at awebb25@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net
