On January 12, 2022, the reorganization application of Renault Brilliance Jinbei Automobile Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Company, was accepted by the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court.
Only four years brilliance Renault Gold Cup strong combination, Shi Luo did not see the splash of water is not overwhelmed, as the only foreign Renault in the three countries has attracted much attention, will Renault withdraw from China? What changes will occur in the layout in China?
Four years of cooperation disintegrated
The cooperation between Brilliance, Renault and Jinbei began to jointly develop the commercial vehicle market at the end of 2017. On December 15, 2017, Renault acquired a 49% stake in Brilliance China's Shenyang Brilliance Jinbei Automobile for RMB1 in cash.
After the completion of the share change, renault Brilliance Jinbei Co., Ltd. was established and managed, and the new joint venture company will produce and sell light commercial vehicles under the three brands of Jinbei, Renault and Huasong. It is expected to achieve annual sales of 150,000 units in 2022, and the planned products involve MPVs, medium-sized vans and trucks, and large vans and trucks.
Since the beginning of the cooperation, Renault Brilliance sales have declined year by year, with Renault Brilliance sales of 43,000 vehicles in 2018, down nearly 30% year-on-year; in 2019, sales were 40,200 units, down 6.5% year-on-year; in 2020, Renault Brilliance's sales were only 23,000 units, down 42.8% year-on-year.
On December 30, Renault Brilliance Jinbei submitted an application for reorganization to the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court. Everything seems to have been foreshadowed, on December 20, 2021, there were media reports that Renault Brilliance has suspended the payment of wages, only paying medical insurance for employees, and the rest of the insurance and provident fund have all been suspended.
After four years of cooperation, Renault Brilliance has not imported any of Renault's products, and has eaten the "old book" of the Gold Cup such as the Jinbei brand Haishi and The Grace. Previously, Renault was accused of poor management of the management team in product development, sales, procurement, etc., the CEO assigned by Renault did not act, the internal management of the enterprise was chaotic, various problems occurred frequently, and there was no clear strategic deployment.
Multi-party layout No waves are seen
Renault has four joint ventures in China, Dongfeng Renault, Renault Brilliance, EasyJet and Jiangling New Energy, which are located in the fields of fuel vehicles, light commercial vehicles and new energy.
Renault joined hands with Dongfeng in 2013 to help Renault in the Chinese fuel vehicle market, and withdrew from Dongfeng Renault on April 14, 2020, and was 100% controlled by Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. Since then, the company's business has been adjusted to only cargo and technology-related, focusing on the follow-up maintenance of existing Dongfeng Renault models, which almost means that Renault folds the domestic fuel vehicle market.
But Renault said it did not mean that Renault gave up China, the world's largest auto market. Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi have reintegrated their resources and sorted out their development strategies in China – in the traditional fuel vehicle market and will rely on nissan-Dongfeng joint ventures, while Renault will concentrate on electric vehicles and light commercial vehicles.
Betting on new energy the road ahead is hazy
Renault Brilliance as one of the major power points of Renault's layout in China, the cooperation has not seen the final bankruptcy for four years, and the business in China is only the new energy sector, and Renault currently has two new energy companies in China, EasyJet New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. and Jiangling Group New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd.
EasyJet New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. was established in August 2017, mainly engaged in the development and production of electric vehicles, of which Renault, Nissan and Dongfeng held 25%, 25% and 50% of the shares.
Jiangling New Energy was established in July 2019, and Renault increased its capital by 1 billion yuan to become a shareholder of Jiangling Group New Energy Automobile Company, holding 50% of the shares. With this new project, Renault Plans to further expand its stakes in the Competition in China's New Energy Vehicle Market and increase Renault's participation in the Chinese market.
In addition, in August 2021, Renault officially announced geely to develop a Renault hybrid, and in China, the two parties will jointly develop a Renault brand hybrid model based on geely holding group. In Korea, the two companies will give Lynk & Co an energy-saving platform to jointly develop energy-saving models suitable for the Korean market.
It can be seen that Renault will never abandon the Chinese market and bet on new energy. Renault has been at the forefront of sales in the European new energy market for many years, with electric vehicle ownership accounting for more than one-third of the European market share, but it has not been able to enter China, the world's largest new energy market.
New energy may be the only grip for it in China, but EasyJet and Jiangling New Energy have not made a big difference. Up to now, Jiangling Lei has only launched one model - Yi, which has no special highlights in the eyes of the outside world and has failed to play the sign of Renault electric vehicles in China. Nowadays, how Renault embraces Chinese consumers and uses resources in joint ventures to launch new energy products has become the core proposition.