Renault has strongly started the promotional and marketing campaign for the electric Mégane E-Tech in France. The manufacturer has decided to show its latest electric car as a product for all audiences, inserting its advertisements in the majority of the French press media and at peak audience hours. The result of this aggressive strategy is that the Mégane E-Tech has been the best-selling electric vehicle in France during the month of Julyin a context of annual decline in total registrations in France.
For Luca de Meo, CEO of the Group, the acceptance of the Mégane E-Tech shows that Renault has taken the correct road with its strategies at a time of greatest challenge for the automotive industry worldwide. The Renaulution plan, presented in January 2021, is already bearing fruit. A revolution proposed by the French group in which diesel gradually disappearswhich is relegated to commercial vehicles, and the electrification begins to play a leading role with 13 new 100% electric models in sight. The new Renault has already begun with the reinvention of its best-selling car, which is now not only electric but also has a format reminiscent of a minivan. Another turning point will be the return of the iconic Renault 4 and Renault 5.
Renault has sold in three months 25,000 units of the Mégane E-TechMeo has assured the popular French medium Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview published in its Sunday edition. A trend that is revealed against that of the general market in France, in which new car registrations have fallen this year. “The democratization of the electric car will take place in Europe and involves getting involved in products at affordable prices,” says de Meo in the interview. Nevertheless, the costs of the raw material needed to manufacture the batteries continues to increase which means that “the equation is difficult to balance,” explains de Meo.
Renault has a series of new electric models in its portfolio with which it faces rivals such as Volkswagen and Stellantis. The “war” between European automakers battling semiconductor shortages and rising inflation could affect consumers’ ability to spend money on very expensive electric vehicles.
Renault’s strategy is to vindicate some of its most iconic vehicles by recovering their design to return them to the electric age, trusting that economies of scale and large-volume production will help control prices. It is also committed to continuing with the names with which its product was identified until now in the different segments, but starting from new platforms and architectures and providing them with electric propulsion. In fact, it was Meo himself who insisted on his idea of keeping the Mégane name (with the surname e-Tech to mark its evolution) in a car that has nothing to do with previous generations.
On July 29, Renault raised your economic outlook for 2022 after posting a net loss in the first half of the year. “Our first-half performance and the certainty of maintaining the upward trend for the rest of the year should reassure those who said Renault could not survive,” de Meo told JDD. Renault’s “restructuring and strong execution of its strategies are paying off,” says Bernstein & Co analyst Daniel Roeska in a note to investors and clients on August 4. Still, “the tides may turn in 2023 as the automaker faces multiple headwinds.”
De Meo has said he will detail his plan to split Renault’s electric and combustion engine businesses in the autumn. The new entity that will be dedicated solely to electric cars will be completely autonomous, and will be based on a business model adapted to your specificities. Among its functionalities would be the ability to make associations focused on the development of new technologies and services.
