Renault, Hit by Coronavirus and a Market Slump, to Close Its Main China Business
April 14 2020 - 7:16AM
Dow Jones News
By Trefor Moss
SHANGHAI -- Renault SA, which was already struggling in China
before the coronavirus epidemic hit, will stop making gas-powered
cars for domestic sale and wind up its main joint venture with
state-run auto maker Dongfeng Motor Corp.
Dongfeng blamed the joint venture's lack of success on the
downturn in China's auto market and said a proposed transfer of
Renault's 50% share in the JV to Dongfeng still awaits formal
approval.
For Renault, a relative newcomer to China that was struggling
with weak sales and tougher competition, the onset of the
coronavirus epidemic snuffed out its bid to become a mainstream
brand in the world's biggest auto market.
In the first quarter of 2020, China auto sales fell 43% from a
year earlier, after having fallen over the previous two years, as
the Chinese car industry faces the toughest period in its history
after decades of uninterrupted growth.
In conditions like these, weaker companies can't continue
without amassing big losses.
"It's increasingly difficult for some marginal brands to reach
the minimum volume threshold in China," said Paul Gong, an auto
analyst at UBS. "Rather than further spending money to build the
brand image and dealer network, exiting is probably the right
strategy."
The move comes as Renault and its alliance partner, Nissan Motor
Co., have been looking at ending product lines and businesses that
show little hope of becoming profitable in an effort to save the
troubled affiliation. Renault executives have been considering
removing the company's namesake brand from China, The Wall Street
Journal reported.
Bill Russo, founder of Shanghai-based consulting firm
Automobility, said auto makers around the world are trying to
reduce risks from underperforming markets as the pandemic hits
their core businesses and pressures them to conserve capital.
Just two years ago, Renault was forecasting 550,000 in annual
China sales by 2020.
Renault teamed up with Dongfeng in 2013 after the failure of an
earlier Chinese joint venture and built a $1.2 billion plant in the
central city of Wuhan, where the initial coronavirus outbreak later
occurred.
Sales climbed to more than 74,000 vehicles in 2017, but Renault
struggled to compete against larger and more established rivals and
it got caught up in the China market slump that began in 2018. Last
year it sold fewer than 20,000 vehicles, a tiny piece of the 25.8
million vehicles sold in the Chinese market.
Renault isn't abandoning China completely. It retains a 25%
stake in electric-car maker eGT New Energy Automotive Co., a
recently formed joint venture with Dongfeng and Nissan that
launched its first electric vehicle in November -- the
Renault-branded K-ZE -- an affordable car meant for city driving.
Renault also has a 49% stake in an electric light commercial
vehicle company founded with state-run auto maker Brilliance Auto
Group in 2017.
"This new China strategy will enhance Renault competitive
advantages to sustain long-term presence in the Chinese market and
maximize synergies with Nissan," the French company said in a
statement.
Renault isn't the first foreign player to be crowded out of
China's cutthroat passenger-car market. In 2018 Suzuki Motor Corp.
-- which specializes in small, affordable cars -- quit China as
tastes shifted to large sport-utility vehicles. For the same
reason, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, stopped making Fiat cars in
China.
Pressure is building on other foreign firms to restructure or
abandon China entirely as the market shrinks and competition
intensifies, especially from local auto makers whose capabilities
have advanced significantly in recent years.
Another French auto maker, PSA Group, is facing a dramatic
collapse in sales: its Citroën and Peugeot brands combined sold
about 113,000 cars last year, according to automotive data company
LMC Automotive, down from more than 700,000 in 2015. Ford Motor Co.
is also struggling to halt a collapse in its market share: it sold
just under 568,000 vehicles in China last year, down from 1.27
million in 2016.
--Yin Yijun contributed to this article.
Write to Trefor Moss at Trefor.Moss@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 14, 2020 07:01 ET (11:01 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Renault (EU:RNO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Renault (EU:RNO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024