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#1 ·
Renault to be locally made for China market.

April 28, 2008 - Renault-Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn, said last week at the Beijing auto show that Renault cars will be introduced to China for local production and Reanult will cooperate further with China's Dongfeng Motors Group.

Although it has expanded its Russian and Indian markets, French carmaker Renault believes that China is a fast-growing auto market and has huge potential for Renault products. The joint venture between Renault and Dongfeng will be cemented and Renault's new products must be introduced to China for local production. The local maker of Renault must be Nissan's Chinese partner Dongfeng Motors, said Ghosn.

Renault and Dongfeng Motors had signed a preliminary deal in 2004 to build 300,000 cars a year in southern China. But the plan was postponed as the two partners could not agree on a site for the plant. If the new plan for Renault to be locally made by Dongfeng is a certainty, the current key issue to be addressed is what products and technologies of Renault should be introduced into China for the local production.

Renault plans to sell 3.3 million cars and increase its profitability to six percent by 2009 worldwide, fueled by emerging markets like India, Russia, and Iran, where Renault has already invested heavily since 2006.

Dong Motors' Hubei-based firm, Dongfeng Auto, in which Renault Trucks and Nissan Motor hold combined 50% stake, achieved revenue of 12.79 billion yuan ($1.83 billion) in 2007, up 26.55% year-on-year.

source: Gasgoo.com
 
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#2 ·
Renault forced to recall Megane in China!

May 7, 2008 - Under the pressure from China's vehicle regulatory body, Renault finally decides to recall its Megane II vehicles sold in China, National Business Daily reports today.

"We already decide to recall Megane II," a senior official from Renault's Asia Pacific region confirmed to the newspaper.

The French automaker hasn't given any recall date, however. "We are busy dealing with the recall procedures currently," said Lin Yaping, Renault (Beijing) marketing director.

Renault began to recall its Megane II and Clio III vehicles in the European markets in October 2006, but it has not announced a similar recall in China.

Earlier in April China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) served a safety warning on Renault, requiring it to make a risk evaluation of the faulty part in the imported Renault Megane II cars and take effective measures to ensure the consumers' safety.

Renault is the only automaker that has received a safely warning from the Chinese government watchdog - GAQSIQ, the newspaper said.
source: Gasgoo.com
 
#3 ·
Renault plans to build mini buses in China by 2010.

May 13, 2008 - French auto maker Renault is to build new mini buses in China's Hubei province starting 2010, Automotive News Europe reports.

The mini bus project, clodenamed W72, will be carried out at Renault's derelict Sanjiang Renault, its Chinese venture with Sanjiang Space Industry Group between 1994 and 2002.

The automaker will reportedly invest 1.5 billion yuan (US$215 million) in the project, which will have an annual capacity of 40,000 units a year.

With an investment of $98 mln, Renault began to build Trafic light buses at the Sanjiang venture early in 1994, but the venture gradually abandoned production due to poor sales resulting from low localization rate.

source: Gasgoo.com
 
#4 ·
Renault to build PRC factories, and introduce 3 new cars to China.

September 11th, 2008 - Renault is quite possibly the last of the ‘big brands’ from the West to enter China, Renault previously entered the PRC to make the Renault Trafficmaster MPV/Van in 1993 however, this joint venture with Jiang Nan eventually broke down. Rumors about Renault entering the PRC again have been circulating for quite some time now, however, last week Renault laid down firm plans for Chinese expansion.

Until now, Renault has been importing cars into China but has seen limited sales due to the high tax placed on imported cars, but now that they have cemented plans to work with Dongfeng, the joint venture partner of PSA, Honda, and Nissan. Renault is reportedly planning to produce the Koleos SUV, the Megane, and the Laguna in China, many of these cars have shared platforms with Nissan models, some of which are already produced domestically in China by Dongfeng, so the sharing of components between the two brands will be highly likely.

Renault has been planning for several years to enter into China with Chinese factories, however, their plans have never been put into practice. Hopefully this time around, the Dongfeng-Renault JV will be more successful than the original Trafficmaster JV.
source: China Car Times
 
#5 ·
Renault Koleos to land in China in early 2009.

October 31, 2008 - The all-new Koleos, French carmaker Renault's first Crossover SUV model, will be imported to the Chinese market in March 2009 to compete with numerous city SUVs locally made in China, said xinhuanet.com today. Its selling price may start from 242,000 yuan ($35,500).

The Renault Koleos is a compact SUV which was first presented as a concept car at the 2006 Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris. The Koleos was designed by Renault and developed by Nissan. It is manufactured by Renault Samsung Motors, a subsidiary of Renault, at its plant in Busan, South Korea.

As the first SUV model carrying the Renault brand, Koleos is fashioned after the multi-purpose vehicle Renault Samsung QM5. The QM5 model, based on the Nissan Qashqai platform, is a new product jointly developed by Renault and Nissan at a cost of $600 million.

The Koleos features the four-wheel-drive system and comes equipped with either a dCi 150 engine or a dCi 175 engine and a choice between a six-speed manual or automatic gearbox. Renault Koleos' basic model sells for $35,500, and the four-wheel-drive edition for $48,700. They were put on sale in the European market in July this year.

The Koleos SUV is also likely to be made in China for the local market where it will go on sale first as the imported car early next year. Before its local production, the imported Koleos SUV may test the waters in the Chinese market.

Gasgoo.com
 
#6 · (Edited)
Re: Renault cars to be made in China

Apparently, with reference to the recall post you made earlier, Renault indeed made a series of recalls to their Megane and Clio models. These were due to faulty parts, noteably on the Clio where is was noted that there was a fault with the electrics which caused the engine to unexpectedly stall. There was also a faulty bonnet catch which in some circumstances lead to the bonnet flying up and sometimes smashing the windscreen.
 
#7 ·
Dongfeng Nissan to build Renault Logan

Dongfeng Motor Co, a joint venture between the Dongfeng Motor Corp and Nissan Motors, said it would start manufacturing its 1.4L and 1.6L Renault Logan at its plant in Huadu, Guangzhou in 2010, Chinese industry website ifeng.com reported Monday.

Code-named L90, the Dacia Logan will be built on the existing B platform (notably Nissan Tiida/Versa and Renault Clio) at the South China plant, which may greatly reduce development and production costs for new launches.

The Dacia Logan competes with Chevrolet Spark, VW Fox, Kia Pianto and City Rover in global markets but it's still unknown whether any refinement will be made when the car is launched in Chinese market.

Unlike its global alliance partner Nissan, Renault hasn't got a former passenger car partner in the Chinese market, which partly accounts for its low sales volume compared with rivals who have built production bases in China. Industry analysts say Renault should resume talks with Dongfeng Motor Corp on forming a three-way joint venture, but no progress has been made for the present.




source:
http://autonews.gasgoo.com/auto-news/1010519/Dongfeng-Nissan-to-build-Renault-Logan-by-10.html
 
#8 ·
Dongfeng-Renault deal dead in the water again

14 October 2009
The proposed joint venture deal between Dongfeng and Renault has reportedly stopped again. The two automotive companies have been in talks for years regarding the production of Renault vehicles in China, but have repeatedly had various setbacks. Currently Renault are importing vehicles into China, their most recent model launch is the competitively priced Renault Koleos SUV.

The reasoning for this setback is due to three barriers, the first of all being Dongfeng’s future. Dongfeng are pushing their future as a self developed brand rather than just being a car producer with foreign partners, Dongfeng currently has five foreign partners in China (Honda, Kia, Citroen, Peugeot, and Nissan) any further addition is likely to stretch them to the limits for the short term.

The second reason is the of location, if Dongfeng and Renault work together, would the factory be located in Xiangfan City (Hubei province) or in Huadu (Guangzhou Province). Renault’s partner, Nissan currently has two sites in China where vehicles are produced, the larger Teana sedan is built in Xiangfan city, but other models are produced in Huadu, Guangzhou. As many modern Renault and Nissan vehicles share similar parts, it would be likely that the majority of Renault vehicles could be produced at the Huadu factory alongside their Nissan counterparts, however the factory would likely need to be enlarged, then there is the issue of sourcing locally produced parts for the vehicles.

The third issue is down to market competition, are the Chinese ready for Renault? Renault are not a well known brand in China, and would require a lot of investment in terms of financials and time to build the brand in China. According to auto.qq.com, Renaults 2008 sales were less than a 1000 vehicles, which might have been due to a recall that might have been politically motivated. Renault currently has 33 dealers in China, and after the recall it has been reported that some dealers are no longer ordering spare parts for their cars, however to improve sales some dealers are offering free rescue service in the even of breakdown, discount parts, and offering free tanks of fuel with every car sold.

source: CCT
 
#9 ·
Re: Renault cars to be made in China

Renault to launch Megane Coupe and Clio onto Chinese market
From China Car Times:
Renault have not had mass market sales in China yet, but they are catering to a niche market of French car fans. The proposed Renault-Dongfeng JV has been put on the back burner once again leaving Renault with the only option of importing cars into China. Their current range in China consists of the Megane, Scenic, Laguna, and the Koleos SUV, however this is soon to be extended by the launch of the Laguna Coupe and the Clio super mini.

Both the Laguna Coupe and the Clio are going to be launched next month at the Guangzhou Auto Show, which will give Renault quite a bit of press time in which to show off their wares to Chinese consumers that are not too familiar with the French brand.

The Laguna is currently imported into China with a 2.0T engine that sells for around 290,000rmb, pricing for the coupe version has not yet been announced but it is expected to be around 350,000rmb, the Clio maybe around 150,000rmb.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Renault's local production in China pending

Some day in the future, Renault will build up its Chinese operations by making full use of the facilities and experience of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. in China, reiterated Renault Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn.

To Carlos Ghosn, opportunity has come for the local production of Renault, because the imported car models of the automobile giant sold well in the country last year.

Meanwhile, its joint venture Sanjiang Renault Automotive Company (SRAC) with China Sanjiang Space Group is likely to resume production as earliest as the second half of 2010.

The venture will introduce Renault's new-generation commercial vehicle New Master, designed with production capacity of 20,000 to 30,000 vehicles per year.

Renault and Sanjiang established SRAC in 1994 with a total investment of USD 98 million. It was under the spotlight as China's largest civil aviation venture and Renault's sole light-duty coach venture in the country.

Because of disharmony in the cooperation of both sides, SRAC only sold over 4,000 Trafic-branded coaches in eight years. Although its Chinese shareholder changed for two times, the venture unavoidably suspended production in 2004.

Since Renault's image was greatly damaged by the failure of SRAC, its anaphase plan for the joint production of passenger cars in China encountered setbacks. Hence, the auto giant plans to restart the local production of passenger cars through the resumption of SRAC.

In mid February, Carlos Ghosn disclosed that Renault would make full use of existing suppliers, dealers and production bases of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company in the local production of SRAC.

There are also rampant talks saying that Dongfeng Nissan Former General Manager Toshiaki Ootani planned a new plant with production capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year, which will produce car models for Renault.

Nissan reveals that Renault Nissan will build a production base in China in the future three years, designed with an output of 1 million vehicles per year. 30% of its products will be Renault-branded vehicles.

However, a top executive of Dongfeng Nissan totally denies the saying. According to him, Toshiaki Ootani had no such plan. The brand director of Nissan (China) Investment Co., Ltd. says she has not heard any news relating to Renault's using of Nissan's facilities for its local production.

A top executive of Renault's Chinese operations in charge of public relations declines to make comments on the story, only saying that the local production of Renault is the plan of its French headquarters.

source: SinoCast

Pictures of old China-made Renaults.

Traffic:



Espace:




more at:
http://www.carnewschina.com/2016/12/01/spotted-in-china-sanjiang-renault-trafic-times-two/
 

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#12 ·
Re: Renault cars to be made in China

I've heard the story of Sanjiang Renault Automotive Company starting again "very soon" back in 2008:
http://www.leblogauto.com/2008/05/renault-en-chine-lazare-style.html

Since nothing happened in 2008, I don't see why it would in 2010.

Renault doesn't seem to plan to produce in Chine anytime soon. Their motto is: "Nissan is already doing ce job." Same goes for India and the USA. I can't believe that Renault pretends to be a global player and yet, misses all those great markets.

Sanjiang-Renault has an intersteting story. As far as I know, they used the tooling of the former Dodge/Renault/Commer plant. But I've never seen this China-built Espace. Erik, do you have any info? Is it just a one-off?
 
#13 ·
Re: Renault cars to be made in China

Yes, this much-discussed new joint venture in China may just be more idle talk.
In fact now Renault is looking at buying the troubled Ssangyong of Korea with the idea of fusing it with their other Korean venture in partnership with Nissan and Samsung in Pusan. As it turns out the SAIC share of Ssangyong has shrunk to just 6%.
In addition to Dongfeng, since the Sanjiang failure, Renault has also been in talks with both Brilliance and BAIC. Nothing ever came of these either.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Dongfeng and Renault set up joint venture

Chinese car maker Dongfeng and France’s Renault inked an operating deal on Monday for a joint venture to produce multiple-purpose vehicles and engines.

Total investment for Dongfeng Renault Automotive Co., Ltd. has reached 7.76 billion yuan (about 1.27 billion U.S.dollars), with Dongfeng and Renault each holding a 50-percent share.

It will produce 150,000 finished vehicles and 150,000 engines annually, the company announced at the signing ceremony.

Based in Wuhan City, capital of central China’s Hubei Province, the company plans to produce a range of new Renault vehicles, with SUVs slated first for production, and will also develop and promote new energy cars and its own brands with Dongfeng.

Four board members from Dongfeng and four from Renault will sit on the company’s board of directors. Its CEO will be assigned by Dongfeng and Renault in rotation for a four-year term.

Dongfeng Motor Group gained about 11.2 percent of the country’s total sales volume of domestic commercial and passenger vehicles in 2012.

http://www.wautom.com/2013/12/dongfeng-and-renault-set-up-joint-venture/





and article about Sanjiang Renault Espace
http://chinacarhistory.com/2017/11/11/spotted-in-china-sanjiang-renault-espace/
 

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#21 ·
#22 ·
As I read it Renault will stop producing combustion engine cars in China. Maybe they'll keep making a small number of electric cars with the seperate eGT joint venture. I think they say they're keeping dealerships, so probably some models may be imported from elsewhere (South Korea/Samsung-Renault). But it's unclear from the press release. They're basically saying "we're shutting down the Dongfeng Renault joint venture and we'll figure the rest out later".
 
#23 ·
Dongfeng Group plans to potentially use the Dongfeng-Renault factory in Wuhan for its new "H" business unit. The "H" business unit was conceptualized about a year ago to explore opportunities in the high-end, new energy car market. Dongfeng, which is reportedly planning to introduce up to 9 new products under this umbrella, is said to have benchmarked the likes of Hongqi and Tesla for this purpose.

https://finance.sina.com.cn/chanjing/gsnews/2020-05-15/doc-iircuyvi3257399.shtml

If anybody is wondering about the fate of the electric quintuplets, Renault has said in its press release that eGT will continue.
 
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