Renault had a complicated year in 2021 again with sales figures down compared to 2020 and 2019.
The year 2020 had already hit the automotive sector hard, the confinements and the health crisis had not helped this market to develop. But 2021, which was to be the year of recovery, will finally mark a new setback for the automotive sector. While the results are starting to come out for each manufacturer, the French brand Renault is not smiling.
Indeed the company with the diamond looks gray. Sales fell by more than 4.5% during this year 2021. As a consolation prize for the group, the breakthrough of hybrid vehicles (E-Tech technology) as well as the good performance of the other brands of the group such as Alpine, Dacia and Lada.
Very heterogeneous sales
In its press release, the group ensures that it continues its commercial policy initiated in the third quarter of 2020. The latter would have made it possible to see sales progress during the year in the most profitable areas of the globe. Still according to the brand’s figures, in the five countries of Western and Southern Europe (France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) sales are up 6% compared to 2019.
The brand is also pleased with the great success of the group’s electric and hybrid cars. In its press release, it explains that the Renault Arkana is sold at 58% in its hybrid version. While what 30% of sales made in Europe concern electric cars or hybrids (this figure was 17% in 2020).
But behind these good figures hides another truth. The one that describes the difficulties of the Renault group. Indeed, taking only the diamond brand into account, the latter has sold just under 1.7 million vehicles over the past 12 months. That’s down more than 5% from 2020. The numbers are even scarier when you factor in 2019 (2.35 million) and 2018 (2.53 million). In four years, the drop is therefore 34%.
Falling figures, even before the start of the crisis
If we look at the group as a whole, the figures are therefore down by 4.5% with just under 2.7 million cars sold in 2021. As a reminder, Renault had managed to sell more than 2, 8 million cars in 2020, while the health crisis paralyzed the world, and in 2019 the diamond brand was well above 3 million sales.
The figures were however, already at that time, not good enough according to the leaders of the firm. Almost two years after his arrival at the head of the French brand, the Italian Luca di Meo does not seem to have found the ingredients for success for the historic French firm.
Last consolation prize for the Italian, the Alpine brand, owned by Renault, is booming in 2021 with a growth of more than 70%. The fact that the Formula 1 team, formerly Renault, has been renamed Alpine has certainly had a considerable impact on sales of the mythical A110.
