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Customer LoginsRenault Group's global sales rise 9.4% y/y in April
The Renault Group has released data which has shown that its global sales are continuing its upward trajectory in April with a gain of 9.4% y/y.
IHS Automotive Perspective
- Significance: The Renault Group's global sales rose 9.4% y/y in April.
- Implications: Renault has continued the upward trend in its global sales during April, with its markets outside Europe having contributed more to this recent growth.
- Outlook: IHS Automotive currently expects that the Renault Group's sales (excluding AvtoVAZ) are likely to improve by almost 7% y/y during 2016 to 2.93 million, while its global sales will reach over 3.5 million units during 2020, and over 4.05 million units including AvtoVAZ.
The Renault Group has released data showing that its global light-vehicle sales have continued their upward trajectory during April. Demand has increased by 9.4% year on year (y/y) to 262,390 units. This has further benefited it in the year to date (YTD) which is now up by 7.9% y/y to 955,240 units. During the month, sales of passenger cars have grown by 8.2% y/y to 226,221 units, and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) are up 18.2% y/y to 36,169 units.
From a brand perspective, Renault has been a key driver to this growth in the month. Sales have increased by 12.9% y/y to 202,855 units. New introductions have been key to its performance, with models like the fifth-generation Renault Espace, Kadjar crossover, D-segment Talisman, Oroch pick-up and the A-segment Kwid - which is sold mainly in India at present - all playing an important part. Although the fourth-generation Mégane is starting to reach customers, it is still going through a transitional phase from the old model and has yet to pass the sales reached by the previous generation a year ago, particularly as this would seem to include the soon-to-be-replaced Scenic as well. The brand's performance has also been underpinned by popular models in its existing range, most notably the Captur and the Renault-badged variant of the Logan. The low-cost Dacia brand has fallen back again during April, with sales down by 4.0% y/y to 50,999 units, as Logan performance dragged. Its South Korean brand Renault Samsung has gained by 21.6% y/y to 8,536 units though, thanks to the launch of the Talisman-based SM6 which made up around 60% of its sales this month.
On a regional basis, sales have largely improved across all key areas. The European market remains a key performer, helped by the number of new launches. However, the overall gain recorded this month has been 7.5% y/y to 157,053 units, a rate of improvement which is behind the OEM's global increase. This has not been helped by weaker growth in Italy and Spain, while Germany is flat. Nevertheless, its important French market is on track, and it has performed strongly with double-digit percentage growth in the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Poland.
There was a far larger gain in Africa, Middle East and India, where sales have jumped by 35.2 % y/y during the month to 33,687 units. Of key importance to this improvement has been the introduction of the A-segment Kwid to the Indian market, which has helped Renault's sales more than treble this month from 3,727 units to 12,426 units. In addition, the resumption of sales in Iran has been of huge benefit, with sales having increased from 1,000 units to 3,550 units. Other important contributors have been Morocco and Egypt, although it continues to struggle in Algeria where its sales have halved y/y.
In Asia-Pacific its fortunes have reversed, underpinned by a surge in its South Korean performance thanks to the launch of a new Renault-Samsung model. Alongside an improvement in China, where the Kadjar is now reaching dealers, regional sales are up 21.0% y/y to 12,051 units.
The Eurasian market has improved this month with a gain of 3.1% y/y to 31,469 units. Although the Russian market remains weak, with sales down 5.2% y/y during April, this has been offset by a 13.9% y/y gain in Turkey, as well as further improvement in Ukraine.
Even the Americas region is showing some elements of a potential lessening of declines. The latest data shows that demand is down by just 0.8% y/y in the region to 27,992 units as while Brazil still presents problem with declines of more than a fifth this month, this has partly been offset by strong gains in other markets, including Argentina and Mexico.
Outlook and implications
Renault has continued the upward trend in its global sales during April, building on the positive momentum since the beginning of the year and prior. Europe remains important to this growth, and this month has had some benefits of an ease in the declines in some regions and the investment that has been made in new products. During the month, the share of vehicles sold outside Europe went from 39% in April 2015 to 40.1%. Although this is not a vast improvement, it can build on this foundation to take it towards the greater than 50% split that it has hoped for in the past.
One model which is likely to help this will be the A-segment Renault Kwid. After a strong start in India, it has now been confirmed that this will also be adapted and produced in Brazil. It is also looking to gain further benefits from leveraging this platform on other models in future. Its Asia-Pacific region will start to feel the positive impact of the Renault Kadjar in China over the coming months, and the automaker will build on this during the next couple of years as it broadens its locally built range of vehicle and reduces its dependence on imports, with vehicles including the Koleos. It also remains committed to the Russian market despite the heavy downturn there. However, with its Russian operations also comprising AvtoVAZ (not currently included in this data) which is suffering its own strife at the moment , things may not necessarily be simple for it.
IHS Automotive currently expects that the Renault Group's sales (excluding AvtoVAZ) are likely to improve by almost 7% y/y during 2016 to 2.93 million, while its global sales will reach over 3.5 million units during 2020, and over 4.05 million units including AvtoVAZ.
About this article
The above article is from IHS Automotive Same-Day Analysis of automotive news, events and trends, and is a deliverable of the World Markets Automotive Service. The service averages thirty stories per day and also provides competitor and country intelligence. Get a free trial.