July 12 (Reuters) – French carmaker Renault (RENA.PA) said car sales plunged 30% in the first half of 2022 after shutting down activities in Russia, one of the first Western auto manufacturers to lay bare the damage of losing a key market in the wake of the Ukraine war.
Renault, the Western carmaker most exposed to the Russian market, said its worldwide sales fell 29.7% from last year to just over one million vehicles. Excluding the activities of Avtovaz and Renault Russia, the number of units sold was down 12% year-on-year. Renault shares fell 2.3% in early trading.
Russia was Renault’s second biggest market before the war, accounting for 15% of earnings, according to JPMorgan. The group, which makes popular models such as the Dacia Duster and Renault Clio, shut down its activities in the country earlier this year and said it would sell Renault Russia and a 67.7% stake in Avtovaz.
In May, Renault said it would sell Avtovaz, Russia’s biggest carmaker and owner of the Lada brand, to a Russian science institute, reportedly for just one rouble with a six-year option to buy it back.
Apart from the impact of its exit from Russia, the French group pointed to the semiconductor crisis, although it gave an upbeat outlook on chip production for the second half of the year, echoing similar comments from rival Volkswagen.
Renault brand chief operating officer Fabrice Cambolive said the brand was seeing some improvement regarding availability and expects the level of production of semi-conductors to be significantly higher in the second half of 2022 compared to the first half.
