Renault can look back with satisfaction on 2021. Although it was generally not a good year for the car industry, the French car manufacturer recorded black numbers for the first time in two years. This is mainly due to the reforms that CEO Luca de Meo carried out.
With Luca de Meo’s ‘Renaulution’ plan, Renault had a few key objectives: volume should no longer be the driving force, instead the focus shifted to increasing profit margins and reducing variable and fixed costs. That seems to be working, as Renault was able to record a profit of €888 million over the past year. The profit margin was 3.6 percent, putting Renault ahead of its own targets. The company has set itself the goal of achieving a profit margin of 3 percent by 2023.
With €46.2 billion, Renault also achieved 6.3 percent more turnover than in 2020. For this year, Renault expects the chip shortage to have an impact on production, especially in the first half. Renault expects to produce 300,000 fewer cars this year than it actually wanted. The car manufacturer also expects material costs to rise. Nevertheless, Renault is aiming for a profit margin of 4 percent or higher by 2022. The introduction of the Austral should contribute to this.
The investments are not finished yet, because Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi will invest €23 billion in electric driving in the coming years. However, costs can be reduced because the car manufacturers will share the platforms. Renault wants to be fully electric in Europe by 2030. Until 2025, Groupe Renault will launch no fewer than nine new EVs.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl