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volume 19. No. 4 Summer 2022

Renault Bank becomes Mobilize Financial Services

Europe records worst month for new vehicle registrations in nearly 30 years

Renault Bank, the finance arm of Renault, has rebranded to Mobilize Financial Services as part of the Renault Group’s strategy to deploy new solutions to meet customer’s car related mobility needs as the motor industry moves to the arrival of electric and autonomous vehicles.

Renault Bank has been operating in Ireland for over ten years and has lent over €1.7 billion to individual and commercial customers in that time, financing over 100,000 vehicles for Renault and Dacia. It offers products including Personal Contract Plans, leasing, and car servicing plans.

“The transition to electric is already here, but we will also see a transition in the coming years to new payment methods and a shift to more ‘pay per usage’ models;” said Paddy Magee, Country Operations Director at Renault Group Ireland. Laurent Fillion, the incoming Managing Director of Mobilize Financial Services in Ireland added: “Mobilize Financial Services will offer more innovative services and digital experiences which will allow customers to reduce their usage costs while accessing a more environmentally friendly mobility.”

The crisis affecting the world’s motor manufacturers worsened in June as continuing chip shortages and the Russian-Ukraine conflict resulted in Europe experiencing its worst month for new car registrations since 1993. Total sales for the month were just 1,054,807 compared to 1,268,508 in the same period last year, a 17% drop year on year.

“The operating environment is becoming increasingly difficult, and worryingly the few safe havens that previously existed across the industry are now starting to show signs of decline too,” said Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics.

Deliveries of SUVs and EVs were particularly hard hit, SUVs down 7% compared to June 2021, and EV sales down by 8% at 215,000 sales compared to 233,000.

Some manufacturers were worse affected than others, with Tesla, Volkswagen, Renault, Audi, Skoda, and Ford the most affected by the shortages in EV supply. In contrast, BMW, MercedesBenz, Peugeot, Kia, Fiat and Cupra recorded growth. Renault had a good month, sales across its three brands of Renault, Dacia and Alpine remained stable but its market share increased from 10% in June 2021, to 12.1% last month.

Chinese brands continued to perform strongly. Excluding Geely, they recorded a 93% increase during June – up to 13,800 vehicles – with over 75% of this volume corresponding to MG cars, up by 72%. These Chinese brands outpaced Suzuki’s, JLR’s, Mazda’s, and Honda’s registrations over the same period.