Groupe Renault recorded a sales decline of 8.2 percent compared to 2019 in the third quarter of 2020, the company announced. European market share, however, increased marginally. This is mainly due to the Zoe, whose sales have increased by as much as 150 percent.
The ‘Renaulution’ that CEO Luca de Meo came up with when he took office at the beginning of this year does not seem to be fully bearing fruit yet. He announced a major cutbacks and reorganization plan, in which € 2 billion must be saved over a period of two years. Renault has not yet announced profit figures, but the fall in sales in the third quarter is not immediately cause for celebration. Admittedly, there is light on the horizon, as sales declines in the first and second quarters were 19.2 and 46.5 percent respectively. In the first three quarters, turnover fell by 26.8 percent compared to last year. Total sales in the third quarter fell 6.1 percent by 806,320 cars.
CO2 pool
In Europe alone, Renault has sold 405,223 cars, 2.9 percent less than in 2019. Is there also a positive percentage to report? Yes, because Renault’s market share has increased by 0.2 percent to 10.3 percent. According to Renault, this is mainly due to the Clio, Captur and Zoe. Sales of the latter rose by no less than 157.4 percent compared to last year. This, and the fact that Renault offers more plug-in hybrids with the E-Tech models, means that the brand is on course to achieve the European CO2 standard this year. Renault has even opened a ‘CO2 pool’ for other manufacturers to join. Perhaps it can still make up for some of the lost sales.