INTERVIEW
SEIZING THE METAL
Renault Trucks’ boss Bruno Blin looks back on a challenging year for the industry
W
ith manufacturers scaling back their manufacturing and people being asked to avoid meeting in Europe, Renault Trucks’ EVP Bruno Blin sits comfortably, broadcasting to the world via the internet. It is an unprecedented move to provide an update on the French company’s progress and how it hopes to deal with the continuing challenge of the Coronavirus within the industry. “2019 was a very contrasting year but we have seen the market going down at the end of the year. But I have to say that I am very happy,” he begins. “We have been able to invoice 54,000 trucks in 2019, which is roughly 1,000 less than 2018. A pretty 18
APRIL 2020
good performance in a turbulent market. It was great performance on used trucks and we have invoiced 9,400 Vehicles, which is 1,000 more than 2018 or 11% more.” The increasingly important spare parts business at Renault Trucks also saw a 3% rise in turnover. He adds that light duty trucks saw a decrease of 1.7% in sales, a result he suggests, that is a consequence of vehicles simply doing less mileage in the year. He continues: “If we think about the market share, I would say that it’s also a stable performance in a kind of challenging and changing market. It was very dynamic at the first part of the year (plus 15%) but then there was a major slowdown in the second half of the year. We have seen an 18% lower market at the end of 2019, but we have been able to maintain our market
We have gained market share in Middle East, Africa and Turkey”
share around 8.5% on vehicles over 6t. If we look at heavy duty it is minus 0.1%. And if we look at the medium duty it is plus 0.3%.” While he is satisfied with the financial results for the year, Blin is aware that the company has lost ground in some European markets, where it has been gaining ground in recent years. “If we look at the map of Europe, basically we have been up, or stable, in 16 markets when it come to the market share, but we have been dropping in nine countries,” he explains. “And, of course, we have to react on that...the idea is to go up everywhere. We really have a strong ambition to go up in Europe. This is why we have decided to change our setup a little bit.” He says this change in approach has led to the creation of teams dedicated to its meconstructionnews.com
