From the Eldorado to the Bourbier, the Russian adventure of the big French groups (3/5). Under the impulse of Carlos Ghosn and Vladimir Putin, the French manufacturer resumed and metamorphosed, not without evil, the old automotive Kombinat Avtovaz-Lada. But the war in Ukraine weakens the brand to the diamond.
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Has a curse shot on Renault? After the existential crisis related to the fall of Carlos Ghosn in 2018-2019, the Pandemic of Covid-19 in 2020 and the Semiconductor Shortages in 2021, it is now the war in Ukraine that comes to strike full whip the Company in the diamond, in convalescence last year after two years of losses. Curse, the word is not too strong. Of all the major industrialists of the automobile, Renault is the most affected by the collateral effects of the Russian invasion and the sanctions that followed it.
The Russo-Ukrainian conflict threatens one of the most strong active in the French industrialist: its dominant position in Russia. The tricolor group controls 29% of the local automotive market, thanks to its participation in the historic manufacturer AVTOVAZ (3 billion euros of assets, including 900 million equity), more known under its lada brand (21% of the market ) Renault is running almost 500,000 vehicles in Putinland, and a six car car is sold in Russia.
Funny adventure that this Renault saga of Renault. It is born in 2008 from the meeting between the economic ambitions of the Kremlin Master and the dreams of expansion of the Renault CEO, Carlos Ghosn. If it arises from the alumni of the KGB and the red army of the shadow of the ex-Soviet military-industrial complex, it also tells a dazzling industrial transformation that will make an old kombinat a modern car manufacturer and profitable.
But first, Genesis. At the origin of this conquest of Russia, Carlos Ghosn, former grand boss of the tricolor group and the Renault-Nissan alliance, provides interesting details in his book the Time of Truth (Editions Grasset, November 2020, 480 pages, 22 euros), co-written with the reporter Philippe Riès: “Avtovaz, who was 100% in the hands of the Russian state, needed help. Vladimir Putin was unhappy, as well as the performance of the company than the quality of the products. Hence the search for a foreign partner, which would enter the capital up to 20%. We were competing with General Motors and Fiat. “
Strange Hitch
“One day of 2008, continues the failed boss, I received an invitation to go to the Kremlin to meet Vladimir Putin. He told me,” Mr. Ghosn, it’s up to you that we will assign the 20% in AvtoVaz. We judge that industrial projects are worth. The reason you won is that we trust you in person to respect the Russian identity of the company. You have already demonstrated in France and Japan. “”
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