PARIS — Renault’s gross sales fell for a fifth straight quarter because the French carmaker struggled to shrug off the fallout from the pandemic with out a main presence in booming Chinese language markets and a worldwide scarcity of digital chips hit manufacturing.
Below Chief Government Officer Luca de Meo, who took the reins final July, Renault is trying to produce fewer vehicles and concentrate on these with increased margins, a technique that’s beginning to bear some fruit.
The corporate bought a lift from rising automobile costs in January-March, for the third consecutive quarter.
However this was not sufficient to offset the hit from shrinking inventories and different headwinds like unfavorable overseas alternate results, and total income fell 1.1% to 10 billion euros ($12 billion) from a 12 months earlier.
Renault, which additionally makes Dacia and Lada vehicles and has a financing enterprise, mentioned gross sales have been up 4.4% when stripping out forex and different results.
Jefferies analysts mentioned the outcomes have been lackluster and underlying pricing traits the place not very totally different from the remainder of the business.
Renault shares have been down 2% at 0752 GMT.
Like rivals, Renault has been grappling with a worldwide scarcity in semiconductor chips, and the group mentioned on Thursday the issue may persist till the third quarter, though it expects an enchancment by the top of the 12 months.
Automotive manufacturing fell by tens of 1000’s of autos within the first quarter on account of the scarcity, finance chief Clotilde Delbos instructed analysts.
Renault, which is chopping prices to attempt to stem losses, has not benefitted like rivals corresponding to Daimler and Volkswagen from a rebounding automobile market in China.
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co, in the meantime, posted its highest first-quarter revenue in 4 years because of gross sales of luxurious vehicles, one other weaker space for Renault.
Renault final 12 months give up its important passenger automobile enterprise in China as a result of weak gross sales there, and is extra depending on its core European market, the place some lockdowns to deal with the pandemic are nonetheless in place.
“We’re nonetheless removed from being in a traditional state of affairs,” Delbos instructed a convention name, including the group most popular to not give monetary steerage because of the unsure atmosphere.
Renault was left reeling in late 2018 by a scandal surrounding its former boss-turned-fugitive Carlos Ghosn, who cast the carmaker’s alliance with Japan’s Nissan – a partnership the 2 are actually attempting to get again on observe.
They’re grappling with rising competitors out there for electrical vehicles, an space the place Renault had an early lead however greater rival Volkswagen is now making large strides.
Delbos mentioned electrical and hybrid automobile fashions have been more likely to attain as much as 15% of group gross sales in 2021, up from 10% final 12 months.
