Renault’s sales held up well in the third quarter, even though vehicle sales were still hampered by a shortage of electronic chips.
The French automaker published a turnover of 9.8 billion euros on Friday, 20.5% more if its withdrawal from Russia is left aside.
This turnover no longer includes that of the group’s activities in Russia (for an amount of 867 million euros), from which Renault separated in May.
In the third quarter of 2021, Renault had reached a turnover of 9,000 million euros, with its Russian activities complete but with production paralyzed due to the shortage of chips. Before the pandemic, in 2019, its turnover still reached 11.3 billion euros.
Price increase
The third quarter of 2022 marked a record “price effect” for the group, including price increases, limited discounts and models sold in higher trims, the automaker said on Friday.
These price increases allow to “cover” the inflation of the costs of energy and raw materials, said the group’s financial director, Thierry Piéton, during a conference with financial analysts.
“We put the maximum pressure on our suppliers” and “we work with them”, underlined Mr. Piéton. “Even if our performance is improving, other industry groups have deeper pockets. We encourage our suppliers to discuss, for example, with groups that post double-digit margins,” he launched. Renault is targeting a 5% margin this year.
Its competitor Stellantis had posted a record operating margin of 14.1% in the first half.
In addition, the Diamond does not see at the moment an effect of inflation that would curb consumer demand, Mr. Piéton stressed.
The order book is still very full, around 3.5 months. “Even if demand did drop, that would give us a few months to get back to a normal order book,” the CFO added.
Retained Sales
Investors were skeptical of this performance on Friday: Renault’s price fell 0.81% at 11:30 a.m. on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The growth in turnover in the 3rd quarter contrasts with a continued decline in sales volumes, in line with the commercial policy implemented by Renault two years ago.
The Renault brand thus saw its sales fall by 4.8% in volume compared to 2021 (excluding sales in Russia), to 321,000 units, but Dacia saw its sales grow by 4.5% to 145,000 copies. The total at the group level is 481,000 vehicles (-2.4%), compared to almost 600,000 in the third quarter of 2021 with Russian sales.
The group also begins to “benefit from the renewal of the range with the promising debut of the Renault Mégane E-tech Electric” and “Renault Austral, whose start-up is underway, reinforces the group’s return to the C segment”, he pointed out . Mr. Pedestrian.
Electric and hybrid vehicles were produced as a priority, as were the Arkana and Austral SUVs, with which Renault wants to make up ground against the Peugeot 3008, in particular.
Dacia is still in shape
At the entry level, Dacia continues to benefit from good European sales of its Sandero, its Duster SUV, but also from the new Jogger family and the electric Spring.
Renault has confirmed its financial perspectives for 2022, with an operating margin of more than 5% and free financial flows in the automotive sector of more than 1,500 million euros.
The group must present an update on its financial strategy on November 8, which provides for the creation of two new entities, one dedicated to thermal activity and the other to electricity.
It is currently negotiating a rebalancing of its cross-shareholdings with its Japanese partner Nissan, which could be announced on November 15, according to a source close to the Japanese manufacturer.
The objective would be to reach cross-shareholdings of 15%, and obtain an investment from Nissan in the new electrical entity of up to 15%, according to the same source.
Source: BFM TV
