Alliance marques “not doing their fair share,” says CEO.
An event in Sydney with the chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance revealed that he isn’t happy with how its brands are faring in the Australian market. The outspoken Carlos Ghosn quipped that Alliance marques “are not doing their fair share,” and that they will be “going on the offensive” moving forward to help boost marketshare on our soil.
Ghosn said, “I think that, to be fair, for Australia, I consider, and each one of the brands considers that they are not doing their fair share to contribute to the Australian market. So you can expect to see Mitsubishi, Nissan and Renault much more on the offensive in the Australian market. Much more on the offensive not only from a product offer, technology offer, dealer services, et cetera.”
This “offensive” may explain why Mitsubishi and Nissan have culled their product lineups, with the former saying goodbye to its compact Mirage saloon and will soon give the larger Lancer the boot, while the latter has gotten rid of its saloons and compact cars altogether, leaving it with just SUVs and utes. It’s particularly perplexing to Ghosn as to why the Alliance isn’t better accepted in the Oz market, as marketshare between the three brands are much greater elsewhere.
In comparison, Toyota alone managed an 18% marketshare as of May this year, whereas the Renault-Nissan Alliance (and the four marques under its umbrella, including Infiniti) only managed to capture a combined 12.5% of the market. “The Nissan brand in the United States has achieved 9.5 per cent [market share], and in North America more than 10 per cent. One of the most competitive markets in the world, the North American market, Nissan is making more than 10 per cent market share: I have a hard time understanding why Nissan cannot make more than six per cent market share in Australia,” Ghosn said.
Within the alliance, the Japanese mass-market brands are performing best, with Mitsubishi managing a 6.5% marketshare, followed by Nissan’s 5%, before then dropping to 0.9% and 0.1% for Renault and Infiniti respectively. “I think the European presence can be much bigger than what Renault today enjoys. And both Japanese brands can do much better in my opinion. I would say, in a certain way, how can we perform better? That’s the way I would put it. I see it more as an opportunity than blame, more as a kind of encouragement to be much more on the offensive in Australia for the three brands,” he said.
On the Renault front, we are now seeing the French lozenge expand its lineup, with the Megane product family now offering hatch, estate, and saloon body styles for the first time. We expect to see the brand also enjoy strong sales of its Koleos SUV, which should see it claim a little more marketshare for the brand here.
For more information on Renault, Mitsubishi, or Nissan, check out our Showroom.
