Renault back on the road to success

The French corporation plunged deep into the red during the pandemic. In 2020, management recorded a loss of eight billion euros.

Four billion euros from the French state

The automaker received state loans due to the coronavirus pandemic. Of the four billion, one billion has already been repaid. For the remaining state aid, there is a set repayment date in 2024. However, due to the good results in 2021, Renault wants to repay another two billion this year and be debt-free with the French state by 2023.

Sales increased by 6.3 percent

The group's revenue jumped by 6.3 percent to 42.2 billion euros in 2021. Worldwide, 2.7 million vehicles were sold, including the Renault, Dacia, and Lada brands. The group employs 156,000 people worldwide.

"We largely exceeded our financial targets for 2021 – despite the impact of semiconductor shortages and rising raw material prices," said Renault CEO Luca de Meo.

However, shareholders will come up empty-handed again this year. No dividend will be distributed for 2021, with priority given to repaying state aid. Experts also emphasized that an improvement in results would be rewarded by investors on the stock market. Renault shares initially gained almost five percent following the press release of the sales figures.

Renaulution is Underway

The corporate strategy "Renaulution" aimed, among other things, to raise the margin to over three percent by 2023 at the latest. In 2012, the operating profit margin even stood at over 3.6 percent.

"With these results for 2021, the Renault Group has taken another step in its recovery," emphasized outgoing CFO Clotilde Delbos.

In the future, Delbos will primarily focus on her CEO position at the Renault brand Mobilize. Her successor, Thierry Piéton, has been with Renault since 2016 and was Deputy CFO since 2020. He will assume the role on March 1, 2022. For this year, the new CFO is even targeting a margin of over four percent.