Renault designated Tavares Carlos as Operational Director, and the latest plans of the company for the next years were announced with this occasion. Renault is vigorously seeking to enjoy a strong brand identity in Europe and America and be competitive in the SUV niche in China.
They are also being aggressive with eco-technology because they are looking to add solar panels to the roofs of their factories in France. The solar panel project is the biggest for the auto industry as the solar panels will cover 450,000 square meters and provide 60 megawatts of power which is enough to power 20,000 homes.
The fabrication will commence in June and they will not be finished until February the following year. Their aim is to lessen the effects of pollution and save on electrical costs. There was a similar project initiated by Seat in their Spanish production facilities.
The company is also doing their best to restore trust after the industrial espionage. Renault is doing their best to become a more desirable brand that markets high end cars. The scandal induced some harm to their image but it is only part of their current woes. The top brass at Renault also admits to outdated styles and unhip image.
When Renault brought Laurens van den Acker in as a head designer, radical changes were observed in the new concepts of Renault. The Clio is predicted to be the first vehicle under Renaults new vision with a redesigned body and engine as well as state of the art electronics.
Sales of medium to luxury cars for Renault have dipped to some extent from 150,000 in 2005 to 100,000 last year. As they work to develop their latest line of cars, Renault must continue to profit from those cars that continue to sell well. The press in France believe that Renault must make an effort to even out the large divide between their partner, Nissan in the amount of cars sold as Nissan has sold over four million cars while Renault has sold 2.6 million cars.
Another aspect that Renault is seeking to resolve is their lack of any presence in the Chinese market as they look to establish themselves in 2013 to 2016. Moreover, the company has never made a significant mark in the US either. Although they currently dont have any plans to reenter the US market, they have been seeking to maximize their positions in Russia and Brazil. As for the Indian market, they are struggling to some degree but continue to produce new cars that will appeal to Indian consumers.
In conclusion, the intention of Renault is to grow the annual sales by more than 400 000 units but this goal can only be achieved if the company brings new design innovations with their existing and upcoming line of cars.