AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)11/23 Report--

When China has become the world's largest single car market and has become the main strategic market for many multinational car companies, even the shrinking PSA Group insists that no car company is willing to give up on this huge market. The Renault brand, which announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market in the first half of this year, announced a few days ago that it would return to the Chinese market.

According to the German "Automobile Weekly" report, Renault CEO Luca de Mayo said publicly a few days ago that Renault is undergoing a large-scale restructuring and will return to the Chinese market in the future. Recently, in an exclusive interview to disclose his Renault restructuring plan, de Mayo revealed that the Renault restructuring plan will be divided into three stages, the first phase "Ressurection" will be completed in early 2023.

According to the plan, Renault will continue to adjust and improve the market positioning of the Renault brand by 2023, and Renault will open the gap with the quantity product brand Dacia. That is, Renault will focus on the C-class car market in the future, no longer the B-class market.

According to Luca de Mayo, the C-Class market is three times as profitable as the B-Class market. Therefore, Renault will focus on Crossover and SUV models in the future in order to achieve the upward development of the brand. He cited Peugeot Citroen as an example, saying that Renault's future position would be Peugeot, while Dacia would be Citroen. At the same time, de Mayo also said that Renault will not enter the luxury car market, because Renault has tried many times to win the luxury car market, but failed.

"fundamentally, an international company has to operate in China," Mr de Meo said of Renault's China strategy. It is not difficult to see that this meaning is exactly the same as what Tang Weishi, CEO of PSA Group, said before. in the future, as PSA is completing a merger with FCA, the group will also take improving its performance in China as one of its main tasks. after all, in Tang Weishi's view: "No international car company can bear the consequences of not having a market in China."

Although this statement shows the helplessness of the two French brands in China, it also shows de Mayo's dissatisfaction with Renault's current market performance and its withdrawal from the Chinese market. In this regard, it is necessary for Renault to return to the Chinese market, but when the Renault brand has not yet completed a reasonable strategic adjustment, returning to the Chinese market can only go through another pale exit.

According to public data, Renault, as a French brand, has been established by Dongfeng Renault since 2013, but due to the low brand recognition in China and the opening of a downhill channel in the domestic market, the gradually marginalized French brands have become even worse. As a result, the Renault brand, which once again entered the Chinese market through China, once again ended in "failure".

Due to poor sales, the restructuring plan was released in April this year. Among them, with regard to fuel vehicles, Renault plans to transfer 50% of its shares to Dongfeng Automobile Group, and Dongfeng Renault will stop the business activities related to the Renault brand.

Renault's withdrawal from China's fuel passenger cars means that Renault almost "exists in name only" in the domestic passenger car field. After all, Renault brand in the domestic electric passenger car market scale is also extremely limited.

At present, Dongfeng Renault produces and sells only one Renault electric model in the Chinese market, and the imported MPV model Espace. It is worth noting that Renault Eno is based on the standardized R & D and manufacturing standardization of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Dongfeng Fengshen EX1, Renault K-ZE and Qichen E30 models are all built on the same platform, but there are only slight differences in appearance, that is to say, there is no difference between Renault Eno and Dongfengshen and Qichen, which is equivalent to one car sold by three bids. As an imported model, the Espace is difficult to sell well because of its high price.

When Dongfeng Renault entered China for the second time, some people in the industry said that it was too late for Renault to enter China, but it did not mean that the newcomers did not have a chance. But Ghosn once replied, "it's not a problem to be late, but it's a problem if you're ready." In this regard, whether Renault wants to return to the Chinese market, Renault is bound to show sincerity to create highly competitive products. Otherwise, both Chinese brands and overseas brands will feel "great pressure".

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