A catastrophic record. Renault has certainly taken the brunt of the health crisis. But its half-year results, published on Thursday, which show a loss of 7.3 billion euros, cannot be explained by the pandemic alone. Especially since the last half of 2019 had already ended with a decline in sales of 3.4%. This assessment actually confirms the fragility of the French group whose general management has just been taken over by the Italian Luca de Meo.
Certainly, the departure of Carlos Ghosn, under the influence of legal proceedings, precipitated the debacle of the Renault-Nissan alliance that he chaired. Without the Japanese, of which it is a 43.4% shareholder, Renault (with its subsidiaries Dacia, Alpine and Lada) would have ended the half-year with a loss of two billion euros. Almost the estimated amount of the impact of the health crisis: 1.8 billion euros. The hole was mainly dug by the Japanese ally, in the midst of the doldrums, which has just increased the losses of the French manufacturer by 4.8 billion euros. Basically, without the Covid and without Nissan, Renault was saving the furniture, management clearly hinted Thursday.
“Personally, I find the results of Nissan and Renault dismal. A home-grown alliance has no chance of success, ”Carlos Goshn, whom we had met in Lebanon, commented in our columns on July 19.
“The Alliance has never actually worked well, corrects Didier Laurent, independent automotive expert: no good ideas, not the right vehicles in the right place, no rationalization of production… For example, the Nissan Micra which is manufactured at the Flins plant (Yvelines), where the Clio are also produced, uses the Renault engine, but not the chassis. The two brands have never been able to share their industrial secrets, ”he says.
But the diamond brand, whose share price fell by more than 9% on Thursday, has other concerns. Its sales in the first half of the year, which therefore includes containment, collapsed 34.9% when the world market fell 28.3%. Its competitor PSA is doing much better in the last half of the year, with a slight surplus of 0.6 billion euros. However, in terms of the number of sales, PSA has suffered more.
If in 2019, the French enemy brothers sold 1.9 million vehicles each, in 2020 Renault lost 700,000 sales, PSA 900,000. So why are Renault's financial results plunging when those of PSA remain in the green? “At PSA, Carlos Tavares, the president, led a very austere management, analysis Didier Laurent. It also lowered the break-even point from 1.8 million sales to 1.2 million. It eliminated unprofitable models, such as the flagship RCZ. PSA has become more profitable ”.
Reasons to believe in a rebound
Renault's strategy resulted in a bloodless cash flow. One challenge among others that will have to meet Luca de Meo, who is already discussing with the social partners the strategic plan, its 15,000 job cuts, including 4,600 in France, and two billion euros in savings. "As always, it is on the employees and industrial activity that the management focuses the bulk of the savings plan", indignant the CGT of Renault which denounces.
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"Renault will regain the place it deserves", assured Thursday in the columns of Figaro the chairman of the board of directors of Renault, Jean-Dominique Senard, who relies in particular on the success of Zoe. “The group has the technology and complementary brands to start again, Judge Didier Laurent. And Senard is excellent on people and digital, unlike Ghosn ”…
