#renault
Pelata Out At Renault
Patrick Pelata is leaving Renault. This a year after the former Chief Operating Officer took the fall over the spy scandal.
Dacia's Up, 'Nault's Down As Low-Cost Romanian Vehicles Cannibalize Their French Overlords
The big winner for Renault in the first half of 2012 was their low-cost Dacia brand, while the losers were…everyone else.
Decades After Bringing Workers To France, Jobs Go Back To Africa While France's Promise Disappears
The establishment of a new manufacturing base in North Africa has fascinated me for the past couple months – though few others seem to really care. The leader in this movement has been Renault, which is setting up plants in Morocco and Algeria to build their popular, low-cost Dacia vehicles in factories where employees earn a fraction of what a French assembly line worker would make.
PSA doesn’t have a low-cost brand of it’s own, so jobs haven’t gone across the Strait of Gibraltar – yet. But the closing of the Aulnay plant, where a massive contingent of North African immigrants (now French citizens) work, is a compelling snapshot of the socioeconomic and racial dynamics of France that happens to intersect with the auto industry.
Renault Duster Captures India
My last post on TTAC was on the Renault Logan, but the vehicle pictured above, also a Romanian derived Dacia, is one that changed Renault’s fortunes in India overnight. After the Logan was licensed to Mahindra, Renault re-started its India innings with the launch of the Fluence and Koleos in 2011. The French automaker launched a re-badged Nissan Micra (called the Pulse) earlier this year. Renault’s monthly sales after the launch of these three cars revolved around 400 odd units, which equates to an yearly figure of around 5000 units. This gives them a 0.24% market share in India and places them in 13th position.
How Renault Logan Became Mahindra Verito
The Dacia Logan is a very famous car. It is one of the cheapest 3-box cars in the world and was developed after Renault bought Dacia. The Logan is an inexpensive no frills car and was made for developing markets, one of them being India. Renault started its India journey with the Logan. However the company had to tie up with Mahindra to reduce costs. The Renault brand was not famous in the country and the price was not as cheap. Tata Motors’ Indigo was available at a cheaper price. The Logan bombed and sales were very low.
Renault To Build Plant In Algeria
African car plants are nothing new, but vehicle exports from the continent are the exception, rather than the rule. Renault, which already has a presence in Morocco, is looking to expand into Algeria.
Samsung Wants Its Name Off Samsung Cars
Korea’s Samsung, better known for flat panel TVs, Galaxy smart phones and other gadgetry, wants its name removed from cars produced by Renault in Korea. “We want to take our brand ‘Samsung’ out of Renault Samsung since we don’t have anything to do with the car sales,” a Samsung executive told The Korea Herald.
Nothing doing, replied a Renault spokesman:
Flippant Remark Haunts Ghosn A Year Later
Less than a week before Nissan’s stockholder meeting on the 26th at the Pacifico in Yokohama, Carlos Ghosn’s inner circle in Paris and Yokohama finds itself chasing a warmed-over rumor. Today, Bloomberg writes that “Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn is considering stepping down before the company’s next mid-term business plan begins in about five years.” A source close to Ghosn calls it “absolute nonsense and a yawner.”
Renault Wants Two New Brands To Take On Volkswagen Globally
When Renault had rolled out its Alpine A110-50 a few weeks ago, the logical conclusion was that this was not just to celebrate the 50th birthday of Alpine. Today, Renault COO Carlos Tavares tells Bloomberg that Renault is thinking about bringing back Alpine as a brand for sports cars, and to create another high-end brand for luxury models in a bid to become a true global carmaker.
Renault Revives The Berlinette, Maybe
Alpine is back from the dead, in a way. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Alpine A110 Berlinette, Renault today unveiled the Renault Alpine A110-50. Alpine may be back, but only as a zombie: Officially, the A110-50 is a concept only.
For a concept, is has real world parameters.
Adventures In Marketing: Outrun Satan's Temptations In a Renault Clio
In 1999, you could still buy a brand-new Peugeot 504 in Argentina. With such a classic French automobile available, Renault’s marketers had to come up with an extra-special advertising gimmick to move those Clios off the lot. How about El Diablo?
French President Picks Citroen DS5 Hybrid, Much To The Delight Of Clemens Gleich
Shortly after our man Clemens Gleich tested out the Citroen DS5, the diesel-hybrid from PSA is getting another nod of approval from a jovial European – France’s new President, Francois Hollande.
In Post-Soviet Russia, Renault-Nissan Buys AvtoVAZ
Renault-Nissan is buying a majority stake in Russian automaker AvtoVaz. For those not in the Russian Car Appreciation Society, AvtoVaz is the maker of Lada cars.
Ghosn's Two Front China Offensive
The Nikkei [sub] must have been having intimate chats with sources high up in Nissan’s tower at the Yokohama waterfront again.
Prematurely perturbing press people at Nissan, the Tokyo wire reports that a new factory will be constructed in China, and that Infiniti cars will be built at yet another factory in China. In the meantime, Reuters cultivated sources at Renault and says that Renault will finally finalize a deal to produce cars in China.
Secret Picture Reveals: Carlos Tavares Defaces Car, And Vladimir Putin Just Stands There
They did not know that TTAC’s man in the cold was surreptitiously snapping pictures with his iPhone. Again-elected Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin simply watched while Renault COO Carlos Tavares defaced the hood of a brand-new car with a Magic Marker. Nissan’s COO Toshiyuki Shiga grinned and did not interfere either. This is how they celebrate the opening of a new car factory, this afternoon in Russia.
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