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Renault sales dip amid doubts over Nissan alliance

Companies refute talk of partnership foundering despite enduring difficult years.
Posted on 23 January, 2020
Renault sales dip amid doubts over Nissan alliance

Renault’s top boss says its alliance with Nissan remains strong despite a difficult year for the two companies.

The French carmaker suffered a 3.4 per cent fall in global sales last year, despite growing in its home European market.

Sales of Renault vehicles increased by 1.3 per cent to 1.94 million cars in Europe in 2019 compared to the previous year. However, the number of units it sold fell 17.2 per cent in China and by 19.3 per cent in Africa, Middle East, India and the Pacific region over the same period.

Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard says its 20-year alliance with Nissan is not under threat and there was a “real desire” to make their partnership a success.

Senard’s comments come after a year of turmoil caused by the arrest of the alliance’s architect, Carlos Ghosn, who was detained in Tokyo in November 2018 on financial misconduct charges, all of which he denies. Ghosn fled Japan in December.

Nissan denies Ghosn’s allegations that it plotted to unseat him to rid the alliance of French influence from Renault. Both companies have scotched talk that two decades of collaboration have turned sour, reports the website City A.M.

Nissan and Renault have also seen instability in the boardroom. A new chief executive started at the Japanese company in December, and inherits a brand with plummeting sales. Meanwhile, Renault is hunting for a new boss after dethroning Ghosn-ally Thierry Bollore in October 2019. 

The car industry is battling a slowdown in demand that has dented many companies’ profits. At the same time they are racing to get ahead in bringing electric cars and autonomous vehicles to the mass market. 

The investment needed to achieve this has led to a number of carmakers partnering up to share costs. As a result, analysts see the Nissan-Renault alliance as crucial to both companies’ futures.