By Nick Kurczewski
Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn says that the French auto manufacturer is “ready to take the offensive” as it sticks to an ambitious turnaround plan. Speaking with journalists at Renault’s Paris headquarters Thursday, Ghosn’s continued confidence seems to run counter to a stagnant European car market, volatile exchange-rates, and what appears to be a looming global economic cool-down.
Ghosn mixed his optimism with several notes of caution when discussing Renault Commitment 2009, the name of the company’s bold recovery plan.
“We’ve identified the risks and know how to counter them,” said Ghosn.
By the Numbers
These risks are backed up by hard numbers.
In 2007, Renault’s European sales fell 4.1%. New models have also had mixed success. The Twingo super-mini is selling well, but the equally brand-new Laguna family sedan has failed to set the market alight. Dealer inventories of the Laguna are high, and Ghosn said that production will be scaled back.
Outside of Europe, things look much rosier for Renault’s recovery efforts. Global sales grew 16.3%, including an above-market-average of 32.2% sales growth for Renault in Central and South America.
Operating margin increased to 3.3% from 2.6% - exceeding the 3.0% target set last year by Renault. It also compares favorably with PSA Peugeot-Citroën’s 2.9% operating margin for 2007, as reported earlier this week.
Ghosn confirmed that Renault will target a 4.5% operating margin in 2008, which will then rise to 6% in 2009. However, overall net profit for 2007 fell 7.6% to the equivalent of $3.97 billion), from $4.33 billion the previous year. Revenue rose 1.8% to the equivalent of $59.35 billion over last year. Operating profit increased to $1.81 billion in 2007 from 2006.
Global Alliance Update
Pie-charts and graphs were interspersed with more colorful news that detailed Renault’s latest global alliances.
Ghosn confirmed Renault’s cooperation with Bajaj Autos, an Indian manufacturer of scooters and trikes, regarding the development of a super-cheap city-car to compete with the $2500 Tata Nano.
Ghosn also made special mention of Renault’s plans to develop an electric-car for worldwide sales by 2012, the continued success of the low-cost no-frills Logan sedan, and a new alliance with Russian manufacturer AutoVAZ.
“I think that whatever happens in Europe, we will increase our volumes by 10%," said Ghosn regarding sales forecasts for 2008.
Source: Ghosn Remains Bullish in a Bear Market
Italian car styling and coachbuilding house Bertone has released a sketch previewing a new Alfa Romeo sports coupe concept based on the Alfa 8c Competizione platform and mechanics. The concept revives the stunning Alfa Romeo B.A.T. (Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica or aerodynamic technical Berlinetta in plain English) prototypes that Bertone produced back in the 50’s (BAT 5 in 1953, BAT 7 in 1954, and BAT 9 in 1955). -Continued after the jump
Porsche has unveiled a revised version of its most powerful race car based on the 911, the GT3 RSR. Its predecessor managed to score several wins in the renowned 24-hour races at Le Mans in France and Spa in Belgium, as well as overall victory in the gruelling Nurburgring 24 hours in Germany.
Technical Description Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2008)
The Chinese clone of the Smart Fortwo, the Shuanghuan Noble has kicked off its insolent career in several European countries, including Greece, where we got these pictures from. Unless you’re working for Shuanghuan, there’s no need for us to tell you that the Noble is a near perfect copy of the first generation Smart Fortwo - in and out.
But what really took us by surprise is the motto that the importer chose to promote the Noble: “Smarter than the rest.” Jeez; as if importing the Chinese clone wasn’t provocative enough, these guys are totally rubbing it in the face of Smart’s parent company, Daimler! 
According to EV World, smog-choked Mexico City requires taxi companies to replace their rides by their (the taxi's) tenth birthday. This year alone, some 30k Mexican taxis will become autobanditos. Looking for green creds, Mayor Marcelo Ebrard has mandated that ten percent of the new, replacement taxis must be hybrids, ten percent must be electric vehicles (EVs) and ten percent must run on compressed natural gas. It sounds crazy, but thanks to the $8k hybrid premium, Mexico's warm weather and the average cabbie's 200km daily drive, EVs might just work. Hence a consortium of RUTAS UNIDAS (bus and cab operators), Electro Autos Eficaces de Mexico (EAE) and Azure Dynamics (AZD) is developing the eLECTROTAXI®. Like they had to lower case the "e". And while we're at it, let's call this thing what it is: a Nissan Sentra taxi conversion. In a refreshingly honest statement, consortium spearhead Victor Juarez G. (no relation to Kenny G) cautions against speculative announcements. Sr. G says that premature prognostications by Phoenix and Tesla have been harmful to the EV movement. Amén. 
