After a five-year absence, the F1 Chinese Grand Prix landed in Shanghai again, and the China debut of the BWT Alpine team under the Renault Group was impressive, and the two French drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly successfully completed the race, bringing the long-awaited excitement to Chinese fans.
What's more noteworthy is that, according to the news released on Renault China's official Weibo, during the race, Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, Yang Qing, chairman of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd., and other senior executives in the Chinese automotive industry appeared in the maintenance area (P room) of the BWT Alpine F1 team under Renault Group, and had in-depth exchanges and took photos with Renault Group CEO Luca de Mayo, Renault China CEO Su Weiming and other senior executives, which made the outside world very curious about Renault's big moves in the Chinese market.
(Left) Luca de Mayo, CEO of Renault Group, and Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group
(Left) Yang Qing, Chairman of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. (Right) Luca de Mayo, CEO of Renault Group
The new strategy has been fruitful, and China has played an important role
According to the latest financial data, the total revenue of the Renault Group in the first quarter of 2023 was 11.707 billion euros, an increase of 1.8% year-on-year (5.9% year-on-year in constant exchange terms). Since the beginning of this year, the share price of Renault Group has risen by nearly 40% to a record high, and its market value has surpassed that of its ally Nissan Motor, showing a strong upward trend.
This is all thanks to the launch of the Renault Group's new strategic plan "Renaulution" in January 2021, which aims to refocus the Renault Group's strategy from the pursuit of sales volume to a greater emphasis on value creation, and to reshape the global competitiveness of the Renault Group through three phases and move towards the next generation of automotive companies. In less than two years, the Renault Group has achieved remarkable results in terms of financial position, allowing it to enter the third chapter of its strategy in November 2022 – the "Revolution" phase.
China plays an extremely important role in the promotion of Renault Group's new strategy, and Renault Group has set out to create a new "ecosystem partner" to combine Renault's advantages in China's new energy industry to develop new mobility solutions for China and the global market, which has greatly accelerated the implementation of Renault Group's strategy, and this new partnership will release greater value and allow all partners in the ecosystem to benefit each other.
Su Weiming, CEO of Renault China, said: "At a time when traditional supply chain relationships based on procurement are being challenged, there is an urgent need to build a new ecosystem. Within the new system, the roles between OEMs and OEMs, and between OEMs and supply chain partners, will change from a simple supply relationship to a partnership. This new ecosystem will help the new energy vehicle industry accelerate innovation, iterate rapidly, and achieve exponential growth, which is also a realistic path to 're-globalization'. ”
In August 2021, Renault and Geely signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish an innovative partnership, share resources and technologies, and collaborate with China and South Korea as key markets. In November 2021, the two parties signed a framework agreement to jointly build a world-leading powertrain technology company to develop, manufacture and supply advanced hybrid powertrains and efficient fuel powertrains worldwide, producing more than 5 million engines and transmissions annually for markets in more than 130 countries and regions.
Renault Group's new-generation Dacia Spring
Dongfeng is also a very long-term partner of Renault, and the two parties have established a joint venture in Shiyan, Hubei Province, to create the best-selling economic electric vehicle in the European market, the Dacia Spring, and a total of more than 200,000 Dacia Spring electric vehicles will be exported from China to Europe from December 2020 to 2023. The cooperation between the two sides has given full play to the respective advantages of Chinese and foreign enterprises, relying on the advantages of China's electric vehicle industry and supply chain, and on the other hand, relying on the advantages of the Renault brand and European channels, the European market has been completely opened in a very short period of time and the benefits have been maximized.
Renault continues to cultivate the Chinese market, and is full of confidence in China
Since the end of the pandemic, Renault Group's attention to China has risen further. In October 2023, Renault Group CEO Luca de Mayo led a delegation to visit China and met with partners such as Dongfeng, Geely, and CICC to explore the possibility of deepening cooperation in the future, focusing on improving vehicle R&D capabilities, and exploring win-win cooperation opportunities with China's new energy industry ecosystem.
At the Geneva Motor Show at the end of February this year, Renault China CEO Su Weiming said in an interview: "Although the Chinese electric vehicle market is currently in a period of adjustment, Renault is still very concerned about the Chinese market and actively promotes new partner concepts, focusing on supply chain innovation and business model transformation."
In mid-March, Renault CEO Luca de Mayo published a letter to Europe, emphasizing that "partnerships with Chinese companies must be established, and Renault cannot afford to give up the opportunity to work with ecosystems including battery gigafactories, top engineers, and raw material refining capabilities".
Renault Group is optimistic about China's development prospects and continues to increase its investment in China's personnel and assets. By participating in the F1 Chinese Grand Prix, Renault demonstrated its strength in the automotive sector to Chinese consumers and the automotive industry. Recently, Renault has made frequent moves in China, and it seems that it is preparing some important measures, which makes people look forward to it.