Renault says sales dropped 21% in 2020, but turnaround on track

PARIS -- Renault said its global vehicle sales fell 21 percent to 2.95 million vehicles last year, due to the decline in the global automotive market triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and a slowdown in world economies.

But the automaker said its turnaround plan was still on track. Renault is trying to turn around its performance after acknowledging that it had overstretched itself in an ambitious global expansion.

It has said a key element of the restructuring plan is a focus on profitability, not sales volume.

"We are starting 2021 with a higher level of orders than in 2019, a lower level of inventory and a higher price positioning across the entire range," CEO Luca de Meo said in a statement on Tuesday.

De Meo will present his turnaround plan for the automaker on Thursday. He plans to revive some best-selling models from Renault's past as electric cars, sources have said.

In Europe's fast-growing market for full-electric cars, the Renault brand was the leader with 115,888 vehicles sold, up 101 percent year-on-year, Renault said.

The Zoe battery-powered small hatchback was Europe's the best-selling electric car sales up 114 percent to 100,657 units. In the electric utility segment, the Kangoo Z.E. light commercial van was the best-selling vehicle, Renault said.

Outside of Europe, group sales were down 17 percent, mainly due to a 45 percent decline in Brazil.

In Russia, the group's second-largest country by vehicle sales after France, Renault's volume fell 5.5 percent in a market down 9.2 percent.

Renault last year announced plans to cut about 15,000 jobs, shrink production and restructure French plants in a bid to save 2 billion euros ($2.43 billion).

Like its Japanese alliance partner Nissan, Renault is rowing back on an aggressive expansion plan pursued by Carlos Ghosn, its former boss.

The two companies were among the weakest global automakers going into the COVID-19 crisis, lacking a clear plan for using their alliance to emerge from the slump and share the burden of investing in EVs and other technology.