AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)02/14 Report--

French carmaker Renault Automotive Group officially announced its 2019 results on February 14. The company's operating income in 2019 was 55.54 billion euros, down 3.3% from a year earlier, while net profit was 19 million euros, compared with a loss of 141 million euros ($153 million) last year, the first annual loss in 10 years, according to the financial report. Renault said car demand would remain volatile this year, announced a sharp cut in 2019 dividends and lowered its 2020 operating margin target.

According to official sales figures, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance sold 10.16 million vehicles worldwide in 2019, down 5.6 per cent from last year. Of these, Renault sold 3.7537 million vehicles worldwide, down 3.4 per cent from 3.884 million in 2018.

According to the sales data released by Renault, its global sales fell by only 3.4% in 2019 compared with 2018. Renault's sales are commendable in view of the 2019 auto market environment, but its sales have declined in many markets around the world.

Renault continues its sales growth in Europe, while it has declined to varying degrees in other markets. Specifically, Renault sold 1.946 million vehicles in Europe in 2019, up 1.3 per cent from a year earlier, and 453000 in Africa, the Middle East, India and the Pacific, down 19.3 per cent. Sales in Argentina and Turkey fell 44.5 per cent and 26.5 per cent respectively.

In the world's largest Chinese auto market, Renault Group has established a joint venture brand with Dongfeng Motor. However, Dongfeng Renault is similar to Dongfeng Motor's other joint venture, DPCA, and its market share and presence in China are declining.

Renault is one of the French automobile brands with a long history, but the sales of Renault brand in China has dropped sharply due to the low awareness of Renault brand in the Chinese market, its own product strength and quality, and the slow iteration of product renewal.

The performance of Renault in the Chinese market has become a major problem for development. Sales figures show that Renault sold just 179571 vehicles in 2019, down 17.2% from 2018.

"We are not satisfied with the result," said Clotilde Delbos, acting chief executive of Renault.

In fact, Renault's performance was sluggish throughout 2019. Its third-quarter revenue fell 1.6 per cent to 11.296 billion euros and first-half revenue fell 6.4 per cent year-on-year to 28.05 billion euros.

With poor performance, Renault further cut its revenue forecast for 2019 and lowered its profit forecast, mainly due to a decline in Renault sales in several markets. In addition, Renault said its operating margin would fall to 5% from 6% because it is difficult to control R & D costs. To improve its performance, Renault is looking for new partners to buy its cars and parts.

Renault expects annual revenue in 2020 to be the same as in 2019, with an operating margin of between 3% and 4%, regardless of exchange rate fluctuations. In terms of sales, the global car market is expected to decline this year, with Europe down at least 3%, Russia down about 3% and Brazil up about 5%.

It is worth noting that Nissan, a member of the Renault-Nissan alliance, also had a "disappointing" performance last year, with a net profit loss of 26.1 billion yen in the third quarter of 2019, Nissan's first quarterly loss since March 2009. the reasons for the profit losses are also different, and its poor performance due to declining sales in many markets around the world.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat