In 2018, French carmaker Renault maintained its strong performance, despite the business environment deterioration. And its CEO Thierry Bolloré said that the alliance “Post-Ghosn” would continue to focus on scale, which was the priority under Carlos Ghosn, and more profitability.

“There is no position to review. Our industry needs scale, volume to make profits happen. It's a balance between both,” Bolloré said.

Renault's commercial and financial results estimated that both the global and European markets would be stable in 2019 compared to 2018. And the group aims to increase revenues this year.

“As far as I'm concerned, I'm pushing very high to quality of services, the costs efficiency, and the value for money for our customers. At the same time, I'm looking for all opportunities to make the volume happen. We've been supported by the alliance to make the scale be executive,” he added.

There is also a concern about group governance and the future of the alliance. The CEO said that thanks to the new governance, all projects would be pushed forward.

“We met with all our alliance members to continue our jobs, to continue to push forward our projects,” he said, “last week we had the first new alliance board meeting, which went extremely well. We could not only have strong changes but also make all decision-making process happen.”

Renault in China

China has been identified as a major part of Renault's global ambitions. At 2019 Shanghai Auto Show, the group made the debut of its latest EV models, which has been designed to “European quality standards,” and will initially be launched in China. 

“We are so proud to present it, which is our first electric vehicle made in China with European standards,” the CEO said.

Bolloré added that it's due to be offered in a number of global markets, including Europe. “It is a global car. We start with China but the destination of this car is not only China but worldwide,” he said.

Although some multinational automakers are re-considering their Chinese joint ventures, the CEO said that Renault is enjoying the current partnership and seeking for more efficiency together with Chinese partners.

“For the moment, we enjoy being together. And we want to continue that way and push forward our common efficiency to make sure we are growing at the market,” Bolloré told CGTN.