Renault here for the long haul

The man who was instrumental in the reintroduction of Renault in Australia, the Chief Operating Officer of Nissan, Toshiyuki Shiga, says the French marque will survive in Australia despite a decade of weak sales -- and its lowest local tally since the Nissan-Renault Alliance was formed.

When Renault was re-established in Australia in 2001-- after a pot-holed history here over the past 50 years -- the company said it aimed to sell 20,000 cars a year by the end of this decade. But so far it has sold a peak of 4565 cars in 2002, its first year back in Australia, and has been hovering near or below 3000 annual sales since.

Instead of reaching its target of selling 20,000 cars a year by the end of 2010, it is on track to sell less than 2000 sales. With three months remaining, Renault has sold just 1310 cars so far this year.

By comparison, not even Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz individually sell 20,000 passenger cars in Australia each year. Of the Europeans, only Volkswagen has eclipsed the 20,000 mark.

Renault executives have long since revised down their forecasts for sales in Australia. Indeed, Shiga-san now says Renault needs to grow slowly. He made the comments on a recent visit to Australia on the eve of Renault launch five new models in the next few months.

"Actually in order to make a proper market and a good customer base it takes time," Shiga-san told the Carsales Network.

"If you push too much too soon you can kill the brand with too much discounting. You must gradually build the brand. I think the step by step approach is okay."

Shiga added that it was his idea to bring Renault to Australia after the alliance was formed between the two companies globally in March 1999.

"I talked with Europe to bring the Renault brand to Australia. We asked Nissan to be the distributor, this is my idea around 10 years ago," he said.

He said that Renault had hope in Australia because the Asia-Pacific region was the next priority globally for Renault.

"Renault really wants to expand the market globally so I hope that Renault can grow here in Australia too," Shiga-san said. "Renault has been concentrating on the European market and the South American market. Now they will begin to focus on the Middle East and Asian market.

"I'm not in a position to talk about growth but my personal view is that Renault has hope to grow in Australia. There is a good synergy. In some markets Renault supports Nissan and in other markets Nissan supports Renault. Both companies have a very long term view of the future."

The new Renault boss in Australia, ex-BMW/MINI executive Justin Hocevar, says the French brand will make a renewed effort to crack the Australian new-car market with a wave of new models over the next few months -- and more on the way.

"There is no doubt that 2010 has been a tough year for us, but with these new models we are absolutely serious about getting back on track. The arrival of the new models means that 80 per cent of our line-up will be new, so 2011 really will be a big year for us," he said.

But it will be steady growth, he warned.

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