Renault revving up passenger car sales

“In December 2009, for the fourth consecutive month, Renault achieved in excess of a 4% share of the market,” says Régis Fricotte, vice president of marketing at Renault South Africa.

“In fact, our consistent performance throughout the year resulted in Renault being the winner in terms of the biggest overall increase in the passenger car segment.

“Since launching in March 2009, Sandero continued to improve its performance and in December, led the field in its market segment for the first time,” he adds.

Renault's first local production

Sandero is the first Renault to be manufactured locally in the past three decades and is part of Renault's long-term commitment to become a leading player in South Africa's automotive arena.

“Despite 2009 proving to be the worst market in the past seven years - down 24% on 2008 and almost 50% on 2007 - the Renault brand showed its resilience,” he adds.

He said the economy was beginning to show tentative signs of recovery and this - together with Renault's completely renewed and integrated product range - made Renault confident of continued growth this year.