PARIS — Renault has halted nearly all engineering projects to conserve cash during the coronavirus crisis. The automaker is working only on strategically important launches such as hybrid versions of its Clio and Captur models.
Denis le Vot, the company's executive vice president for sales, marketing and regions, said that engineering had not quite come to a full stop during the coronavirus confinement, which was imposed on March 16 in France and is expected to last until May 11.
"We have teams working on homologation, development and internal procedures for our main strategic projects," he said Thursday on a call with analysts to discuss Renault’s first-quarter revenue. "We will keep pace on important launches."
Almost all of the company’s workforce is either on temporary unemployment or on part-time work, largely from home, interim CEO Clothilde Delbos said. With factories remaining closed and demand at zero in many countries, the automaker is hoping not to have to tap credit lines or government-backed loans.
"We are making a choice as to what is crucial for us this year," Delbos said, noting that teams within the company had taken another look at capital expenditures and R&D spending in the light of the coronavirus crisis. "Everything else has been stopped."
She said Renault has already started taking measures to reduce costs by a total of 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) by 2022 as it seeks to return to profitability. A full cost-cutting plan will be announced in May, along with one from alliance partner Nissan.
Renault is counting on new electrified vehicles to help it reach its CO2 target for the year. They include launches this summer of a conventional hybrid version of the Clio small hatch, the group’s best-selling car; a plug-in hybrid version of the Captur small SUV; and a plug-in hybrid version of the Megane station wagon, with a hatchback to follow.
Later in the year, a battery-electric version of the Twingo will appear, followed by the Dacia Spring, a battery-electric version of the Renault Kwid mini-SUV now sold only outside of Europe.
"These cars are very important in Europe, for the business, for our commercial strategy and for the CAFE regulations," Le Vot said, referring to corporate average fuel economy.
He and Delbos said that Renault was on track to meet its CO2 targets for 2020, provided demand returns when coronavirus lockdowns are lifted. Delbos affirmed that Renault had not requested an easing or delay in the target for 2020, which is an overall fleet average of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer.
"We think we will be in a very good position for our CAFE in 2020 and 2021," she said. "I confirm that we are not asking for postponement of the CAFE target for 2020."
