China’s Business Daily Update reports that Renault will bolster its alliance with Nissan Motor Co in China, Russia and other emerging markets in order to expand sales there, according to chairman and chief executive officer Louis Schweitzer.
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Renault plans to enter the passenger car market in China, and its partner will likely be the joint venture that Nissan will set up with Dongfeng Motor Corp next year, the Nihon Keizai newspaper cited Schweitzer as saying.
The French car maker intends to exploit Dongfeng’s production and sales network, and aims to sell more than 100,000 cars in the world’s most populous country in 2010.
Renault now manufactures subcompact commercial vehicles at a joint venture, Sanjiang Renault Automotive Co, in China.
Renault has also targeted Russia as a market in which to expand its production structure.
It intends to invest more money in the joint venture that it already has in Moscow, and through which it manufactures and assembles a subcompact car.
Another idea being floated is to market Nissan vehicles using Renault’s sales network in Russia.
The moves come amid slumping sales of Renault cars. In the first 10 months of this year, sales declined 2.9% from a year earlier to 1.88 million vehicles.
The sales decline was 6% in October alone, putting pressure on the French firm to beef up its operations outside Europe, the Chinese report said.
