A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Renault aims to unseat rival
By 2013, Renault, together with its Japanese partner Nissan, aims to replace its French rival PSA Peugeot Citroën as Europe’s second-largest carmaker after Volkswagen, according to the firm’s chief executive Carlos Ghosn.
He made the comments as the company unveiled its first long-term strategic plan since 2008, when Ghosn discarded a previous three-year plan after the financial crisis caused car sales to collapse and he shifted focus to conserving cash.
Renault aims to increase its global sales to more than 3 million, increase its operating margin from 3 per cent to 5 per cent, and generate €2 billion of free cash by 2013, not including that generated by its affiliated companies.
Renault’s stock-market valuation has long lagged behind many of its industry peers’ in part because it is perceived by investors as deriving most of its value from stakes in other groups. The company owns 44 per cent of Nissan, 6.8 per cent of Swedish truckmaking group AB Volvo, and 1.5 per cent of Germany’s Daimler. It has also recorded strong success with its low-cost Dacia brand on the continent. It’s due to arrive in Ireland in 2012. By then it will have added a new family car and a light commercial vehicle to its fleet.
In its new strategic plan, dubbed “Renault 2016 – Drive the Change”, it includes a commitment to sell 1.5 million by 2016 across the group of firms it is partnered with.
Within its own brand it plans to retail its electric version of the Fluence saloon, the ZE, along with the new Lattitude electric saloon. It will add its Zoe electric supermini in 2012.
Alongside these Renault will also launch a new version of the Clio in 2012, and a new Twingo this year.
The firm said it expected Europe’s car market to stagnate or shrink by as much as 2 per cent this year, and that France’s would fall by 8 per cent, but that markets outside Europe would remain “dynamic”.
Mercedes new coupé
Ahead of its official unveiling at the Geneva motor show next month, Mercedes has revealed its new C-Class based coupé aimed to take on the BMW 3 Series coupe and Audi A5.
The car, which will arrive in showrooms later this year, replaces the previous CLK, which ended production two years ago. While it’s based on the C-Class platform, the coupé features a lower roofline and several interior features from the E-Class range.
Entry level engines at launch time will start with a 170bhp C220 CDI with emissions of 139g/km and a 156bhp C180 BlueEfficiency petrol engine emitting 162g/km.
Show goes on
We’re just 10 days away from the opening of The Irish Times Motor Show at the RDS Simmonscourt in Dublin.
Along with the latest new models on the Irish market, the show will feature special areas devoted to electric and hybrid cars and the various recharging options, a kids’ zone where children get to do their first driving test and try their hand at car design, and a features area with various concept and racing cars. Tickets are on sale via irishmotorshow.ie.