While the economic outlook for Europe may be grim, Renault is looking to expand its portfolio with the addition of the two upscale brands including the revival of the Alpine marque to produce sports cars and the creation of another label called Initial Paris to sell luxury models.
Renault’s Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares confirmed the news in a recent interview with Bloomberg adding that the French carmaker also needs to grow its reach in emerging countries to reduce its reliance on Europe’s stagnant car market.
“You need to be competitive across the world,” Tavares said. “That’s why we have been managing the change from a European-focused company toward a global carmaker.”
Renault has been in a strategic alliance with Nissan since 1999 with the two companies joined together through a cross-shareholding agreement. The Franco-Japanese partnership currently controls six brands including Renault, Nissan, Infiniti, Renault Samsung Motors, Dacia and Lada.
The French brand believes a luxury marque could be central to its plans to expand outside Europe and particularly in important markets such as China.
“We may have one day a luxury brand,” said Tavares. “That would help from a profitability standpoint because everybody’s always looking at VW and what Audi represents for the VW group.”
Earlier this year, Tavares had revealed that Renault has begun work on an upscale car based on a Mercedes-Benz E-Class platform, as part of the strategic cooperation between the two groups.
Just last month, Renault also previewed a concept for a mid-engined sports coupe with the Alpine moniker named A110-50.
The final decision on the new strategy to add the two luxury brands to Renault’s portfolio will be made this year, according to Tavares.
PHOTO GALLERY
