(AOF) – Renault announces the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Punch center in Turin (Italy), a subsidiary of the Belgian group Punch, providing for cooperation on Renault 4-cylinder diesel engines for light commercial vehicles, under the terms of which Punch may buy, use and sell current and future 4-cylinder diesel engines. Renault Group engineering teams will continue to develop low-emission diesel engines for light commercial vehicles and will also collaborate with Punch engineering teams.
This cooperation will take place within the framework of the “Horse project”, launched in November 2022 to create a world-leading supplier of thermal and hybrid engine technologies.
The two partners will join forces for the development of Euro VI and Euro 7 variants of Renault 4-cylinder diesel engines for light commercial vehicles, for production from 2025.
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Key points
– Fourth largest automobile manufacturer in the world, created in 1898 and present under the Renault, Dacia, LADA, Alpine and Mobilize brands;
– Global industrial positioning, with a turnover of €46.2 billion achieved for more than 50% outside Europe and with strong positions mainly in the following countries: France, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Belgium-Luxembourg, Romania, Morocco and Poland;
– Business model: repositioning on medium-sized vehicles, on the quality of the offer in electric or hybrid vehicles and flexible services;
– Capital held at 15% (29.05% of voting rights) by the French State, at 15% by the subsidiary Nissan, and at 3.61% (5.88%) by the employees, the board of directors of 17 members being chaired by Jean-Dominique Senard, Luca de Meo being Chief Executive Officer;
– Strengthened balance sheet with net debt reduced to €426m, cash reaching €15.8bn.
Challenges
– “Renaulution” strategy in 3 stages, whose objectives will be updated in the fall of 2022: resurrection until 2023: brand autonomy, rationalization of platforms from 6 to 3, “mid-range” offer increased to 40% revenue against 15%, operating margin of +3%, free self-financing of €3 billion / renovation from 2023 to 2025 by renewing the ranges / renaulution: ramping up of the use of hydrogen in professional vehicles with a market share target of 30% in 2030;
– Innovation strategy focused on connectivity, services and electric vehicles: network of experts, innovation labs (California, France, Israel), ReKnow University dedicated to electrification, data cybersecurity, etc. / partnerships: CEA and the Moveo, Sysematic and ID4Car competitiveness clusters / NeVeOS project for the electronic architecture of vehicles / E-TECH hybrid technology and French carbon-free batteries / Renault Venture Kapital and Alliance Ventures investment funds for venture capital and support for start-ups;
– Environmental strategy aiming for carbon neutrality in 2040 in Europe and in 2050 in the world: objective of a range of all-electric private vehicles in Europe in 2030 via €23 billion of investments by 2027 and 5 common platforms / circular economy mobility driven by the Flins plant;
– Positive product mix effect for revenue with the launch of Arkana, Jogger and Mégane Electric;
– Towards the spin-off of electrical and “software” activities, which would be listed on the stock market, and thermal traction activities.
Challenges
– Impact of lack of semiconductors: loss of 300,000 vehicles in 2022;
– Impact of raw materials inflation offset by commercial policy;
– Impact of the Russia-Ukraine war: net loss of €2.3bn from discontinued operations but debt reduction;
– Operational launch of Mobilize, bringing together mobility, energy, financing, insurance and maintenance services, targeting 20% of sales by 2030;
– After stable turnover and a tripling, excluding the Russian impact, of net profit in 1
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semester, 2022 targets revised upwards: operating self-financing of +€1.5 billion and operating margin of +5%.
A paradoxical performance
Data from EY highlights that the performance of the world’s top 16 manufacturers was particularly strong in 2021. While the average margin has fallen for three years in a row, from 6.3% in 2017 to just 3.5% in 2020 , this margin stood at 8.5% in 2021. This level is a record for ten years. However, the context was particularly hectic for manufacturers, faced with unprecedented shortages of components. Global sales fell 14% in 2020, the year of the health crisis, to rebound by only 5% in 2021. However, last year, players were able to reap the benefits of their efforts on their fixed cost structure. .