Renault About To Get Going In China

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Renault hopes to get going on its foray into China, and to sign a joint venture agreement with Dongfeng, Reuters says. “We are waiting for an official invitation from the Chinese industry ministry,” Reuters heard from an insider. Rumors of an impending JV kept Chinese media guessing and speculating for years.

Total investment is said to be close to 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion). Renault and Dongfeng are well acquainted: Alliance partner Nissan has a joint venture with Dongfeng, and is China’s largest Japanese brand. The island issue put a damper on sales of Japanese-branded cars in China, which makes a diversification into European brands extra pertinent.

According to the report, the Renault-Dongfeng JV will start with an annual capacity of 150,000 units, and will begin producing SUVs and minivans in 2014.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Billfrombuckhead Billfrombuckhead on Jul 08, 2013

    It would make more sense to push the French side of the company with all the hard feeling the Chinese have against the Japanese.

  • Big Al from Oz Big Al from Oz on Jul 09, 2013

    I think Dongfeng already are licence building Nissans or are co-building Nissans. Renault is only a progression and as billfrombuckhead wrote the Japanese are not as well received as they once were.

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