Renault is heading south to the heavy truck market.


“Our goal is to sell 1,000 to 1,500 trucks in China from 2005 to 2006, with a market share of around 10%,” said Le Weichi, vice president of international cooperation at Renault Trucks, who was ambitious at the Beijing auto show. The Renault Trucks, which enjoys a reputation for being in the international truck market, are currently inconsistent with their international status in terms of sales and share in China. Therefore, Renault, who has been late, has to intensify its efforts to increase China’s pace. In order to gain a firm foothold in the huge potential of the Chinese truck market as soon as possible. So how will Renault develop its own "China strategy"?

Ready to go

As early as October 28, 2002, Renault Trucks and Dongfeng signed a technology transfer agreement for Renault's 11-liter dci11 engine, and it plans to form a mass production capacity in 2005. Earlier this year, Renault Trucks and Dongfeng Liuzhou Automobile signed an agreement for the two parties to establish a joint venture in China to produce parts for trucks and trucks. Although the specific details of the agreement have not yet been finalized and the Chinese government has yet to approve it, Renault’s Chinese strategy has already begun to take shape.

For the above move, Le Weichi stated that the potential of China's truck market is huge, and at the same time, local production capacity is very strong, coupled with the involvement of multinational companies, so the competition in China's truck market is also fierce. In this case, Renault must increase its import business. At the same time, it must also consider local production so that it can rapidly increase its market share in China. As Renault attacked the US market in the same year, in order to quickly occupy the US market, in the 90s of the last century, Renault acquired the American Mark truck brand.

In fact, the strategy of the international auto giants to attack the Chinese market has basically taken the form of cooperation with Chinese local manufacturers. Prior to Renault, Volvo Trucks and Sinotruk reached an agreement to jointly manufacture Volvo FM12 trucks; MAN and Shaanxi Heavy-duty Trucks agreed to co-produce Delong 2000 heavy trucks; in addition, Mercedes-Benz and Foton, Nissan and Dongfeng have reached a cooperation to produce trucks. protocol.

Therefore, it is a matter of course that Renault will increase its position in the Chinese truck market through cooperation. Le Chiu told reporters: “China’s demand for high-quality, high-efficiency trucks is growing. Renault Trucks needs to jointly set up a company with Dongfeng to meet the market’s needs. Renault hopes that through a full joint venture with Dongfeng Liuzhou, not only To elicit the latest products, and use the advanced technology of Renault Trucks to improve the quality of existing products of Liu Automobile, and gradually make Renault Trucks localized through joint ventures, and drive the development of some domestic parts and components companies to increase the competitiveness of Renault Trucks' market "In this regard, Le Vichy further stated that the first product introduced was the Renault kerax heavy-duty truck. The long-term goal of Renault Trucks is to export batches of Chinese-made trucks to the surrounding areas.

Renault and Volvo: Teaming Up Resource Sharing

Before Volvo Trucks Renault came to the Chinese market, its joint venture company, Huawo, has already produced the Huahao heavy truck. How will the two sides cooperate in the Chinese market? In this regard, Le Vieux said that Renault Trucks and Volvo Trucks belong to the Volvo Group and are two brother brands under one big family. Both will share many resources in the areas of parts, logistics and finance. At present, both parties are Shanghai Free Trade Zone has a shared spare parts store, and it is the same logistics company providing services so as to achieve the goal of accelerating the supply cycle and improving service. However, the two will be independent in terms of branding, sales, etc. Therefore, we will establish our own sales network.

When it comes to sales, we understand that Renault’s sales in the Chinese market are still dominated by direct sales. This is certainly not a long-term solution for the target of occupying 10% of the market share in the future. For this purpose, Bi Yan, sales and sales director, said that "Direct marketing is certainly temporary. At present, we are working with dealers who agree with Renault's brand philosophy and also meet our strategic development requirements. We hope to eventually achieve long-term cooperation with a group of outstanding distributors. We also hope that before the end of the year, At least five distributors with regional distribution rights."

Stably and steadily, gradually launching the "China Strategy"

As the world's second-largest truck manufacturer under the Volvo Group's famous brand, Renault Truck's popularity in China is far less than its international reputation. Because of this, Renault Trucks’ current sales and share in China appear to be insignificant. For this, Le Vieux also admitted that the current market share of Renault Trucks in the Chinese market is still relatively small, but its development potential is huge. The Chinese heavy-duty truck market is larger than Europe and the United States. Therefore, Renault Trucks will The Chinese market is in an important position. Speaking here, Le Vieux revealed to reporters that Renault Trucks will invest heavily in China in the next few years to achieve its own development goals.

Since Renault Trucks' brand awareness is not very high in China, Le Villex believes that the main task of Renault Trucks is to establish and promote the brand image of Renault Trucks. “Our ultimate goal is to provide Chinese customers with products that suit their tastes and establish a strong partnership with Chinese users and distributors. The primary goal is to allow Chinese users to read the brand connotation of Renault Trucks: the expression of value; Let Chinese users accept and recognize that Renault Trucks is reliable, durable and long-lasting."

Now, with the expansion of Renault Truck China's strategy, Renault Truck's brand awareness is rapidly expanding, and it has brought a certain amount of sales and a large number of potential users. According to He Bin, general manager of Renault China, in order to meet the fast-growing needs of users in the future, improving the efficiency of after-sales service network is the focus of the current work. This year, Renault Trucks has to establish 15 service stations and parts libraries in China to meet customer needs. . In addition, as Renault trucks are put into use in Shanghai's spare parts warehouse, problems such as faster delivery and shorter delivery deadlines will soon be resolved.

With these strategies as a basis, Renault Trucks is more confident, and this will in turn bring changes to the already highly competitive Chinese heavy truck market. I believe it will soon be clear. In short, the recognition of users and the steady increase in market share are the signs of success. To achieve this, Renault still needs to undergo many tests.
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