Renault profits slump
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• Renault's European division, which includes Renault Truck Industries in the UK, recorded net profits down 33% last year to FF640m (65.7m). Sales were down 3,7% to just over FF21bn (£2.16bn).
Renault Vehicles Industrials Group which includes loss-leading US division Mack returned a modest FF23million (£2.36m) net profit last year. This compares with a loss of FF102m (£10.5m) in 1990.
Jean-Pierre Capron, chairman of RVI, says the results are "on a par with those of the best of our competitiors". He predicts most of the other major European truck makers will soon release notably worse 1991 results.
Renault Truck's UK factory at Dunstable is safe as long as it does not require any investment, says Capron. "When it is just an assembly line you can leave it a very long time — running costs are quite small."
He admitted that in capacity terms RVI only needs two assembly plants in Europe. There are at least three other major sites in France, but they are in a similar position.
"Of one thing I'm quite sure, right now I won't spend on investment anywhere on assembly," says Capron He feels that his UK competitors are leading Europe towards an American marketing style where all the large fleet sales fail to cover direct costs. "I don't play that game," he says.
In the US, Mack's refusal to drop its prices below cost has resulted in its near disappearance from the big fleet market.