Renault launches radical service scheme

A transparent extended servicing schedule being rolled out alongside a model range overhaul over the next 12 months is a cornerstone of Renault’s plan to reverse its current sales slide.

The new plan has drawn the thumbs up from specification and servicing expert redbook.com.au, but Renault’s sales have dipped more than 20 per cent year-on-year so there’s a lot of ground to be clawed back.

The initiative is integral to Renault’s new 5:5:5 Easy Life Ownership program that debuts with the Kadjar medium SUV and should roll out with other new passenger vehicles as they come to market.

Other new models that should be launched with 5:5:5 include a Koleos SUV facelift coming within days, an all-new Captur small SUV due by mid-2020, an all-new Clio mini-car coming within months of that and the third-generation ZOE electric vehicle by the end of next year.

Renault’s quoted servicing costs includes consumables that are often left outside the headline figure for such programs, while the 30,000km/12-month capped-price servicing program grows from three to five years.

A fifth year has also been added to the roadside assistance program, if the car is serviced at a Renault dealer. Combine all that with the existing five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and that’s where 5:5:5 comes from.

Ross Booth, the general manager of vehicle valuation and specification website redbook.com.au said the pricing still wasn’t the cheapest on offer in the industry, but the initiative was worthwhile.

“The excellent thing Renault does is include consumables in their servicing which most don’t, enabling certainty around costings,” he said.

“Thirty thousand kilometres and 12 months service intervals is up to three times than some competitors and twice than most others.

“Renault should get credit for transparency, fair pricing, and great kilometre coverage between services.”

The Kadjar costs $2385 to service five times in five years. Four of those services cost $399, while year four is $789. Consumables such as air filter, pollen filter, accessory drive belt, coolant replacement, spark plug replacement and brake fluid replacement are included in those prices.

Some big-ticket times aren’t included. For instance, gearbox oil, brake and the clutch components are all due for replacement at six years or 120,000km, so that will affect high-mileage owners.

“We have absolutely changed the communication in the area of ownership,” declared Renault Australia managing director Anouk Poulman.

“One thing is to sell a car, the other thing is keeping your customer happy in that car and then hopefully making them buy the product again.

“With the Kadjar for the first time we talk about the Easy Life 5:5:5. So at the moment when you buy the car you have absolute peace of mind.

“Including the filters and these little things is something the competition does not have this.”

The new deal does not cover commercial vehicles. Renault will introduce an automatic version of the Trafic, a facelift of the Master and an upgrade of the Kangoo in the next few months.

It also unlikely 5:5:5 will apply to Renaultsport vehicles, such as the legendary Megane RS, which comes with a five-year warranty.

To the end of October Renault had sold 6766 vehicles in Australia, compared to 8586 in the same period of 2018.

That’s a fall of 21.2 per cent compared to an industry-wide average of eight per cent. From a high of 11,525 sales in 2015, Renault sales have steadily slipped, but the drop has steepened in 2019.

Poulman, who took over at the top of Renault Australia after previously running Peugeot-Citroen’s local operations, said pulling the non-RS Megane small car models had impacted on sales performance, as had the shortage of Clio and Captur in the run-out phase.

The new Captur is expected to be offered in Australia with a single 1.3-litre petrol-turbo powertrain across three specification grades. The E-Tech plug-in hybrid may come later.

The Clio will come with a 1.0-litre or 1.3-litre petrol-turbo engine and may be limited to one specification grade.