Electric and hybrid vehicles will represent 40% of Renault brand sales in Europe in 2022

By Gilles Guillaume

PARIS (Reuters) – All-electric and hybrid vehicles in 2022 have nearly doubled as a percentage of Renault-branded European sales over the past two years, an official said ahead of the Paris Motor Show.

“In Europe, we will be at 40% this year,” said Fabrice Cambolive, deputy general manager of the brand, during a pre-show organized in Aubervilliers (Seine-St-Denis), adding that the brand is well positioned. to successfully complete its planned shift to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030.

In 2021, electrified models represented around a quarter of the Renault brand’s European sales and around a third in the first half of 2022. Overtaken by new entrants such as Tesla and new Chinese manufacturers, or by historic heavyweights such as Volkswagen and Stellantis, Renault has pinned its electric hopes on its new Mégane and two small iconic models – a new Renault 5 and a new Renault 4, a small SUV that echoes its 4L. She will unveil them at the Paris Motor Show.

During an investor day scheduled for November 8, the Renault group is to present its strategy for creating a unit focused on electrification and software, the core business of the automotive industry. A separate unit will specialize in its traditional business of manufacturing internal combustion engine cars.

Renault’s Cambolive said industry-wide in Europe, orders for new vehicles have fallen in recent months due to rising inflation.

“For several months now we have seen a decline in Europe-wide orders of around 20%,” he said.

Despite the drop, new vehicle registrations in Europe in 2022 are expected to be “more or less” flat compared to 2021, unless persistent supply chain problems – in particular a global shortage of semiconductor chips – do further disrupt production, Cambolive added.

This year’s Paris Motor Show is the first since 2018, when it attracted more than a million visitors. The 2020 show has been canceled due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume in Paris; Writing by Nick Carey; Editing by David Gregorio)