Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, a leading automotive Alliance, has announced that its member companies sold a combined total of 10,608,366 units in 2017.

Growing demand for SUVs, light commercial vehicles and a rising number of zero-emission pure electric vehicles helped lift unit sales by 6.5 per cent in 2017, the first full-year of Mitsubishi Motors’ membership of the Alliance, said a statement.

Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, said: “With more than 10.6 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles sold in 2017, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi has become the number-one automotive group worldwide.”

“This evolution reflects the breadth and depth of our model range, our global market presence and the customer appeal of our vehicle technologies,” he said.

In 2017, the Alliance member companies sold vehicles in nearly 200 countries under 10 brands (Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors, Dacia, Renault Samsung Motors, Alpine, Lada, Infiniti, Venucia and Datsun), it said.

Groupe Renault’s sales were up 8.5 per cent to 3,761,634 units in 2017. It was a record year for the company, the world’s leading French brand and number-two brand in Europe, and also for Dacia. Renault is seeking continued growth in 2018, buoyed by the development of its international activities and its renewed range, in line with its Drive The Future plan.

Nissan Motor Co sold 5,816,278 vehicles worldwide, up 4.6 per cent, and shared details of Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, the company’s six-year strategic plan. In the US and China in 2017, the company achieved sales growth of 1.9 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively. Infiniti sold 246,492 vehicles in 2017, an increase of 7 per cent from the previous year.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation sold 1,030,454 vehicles in 2017, up 10 per cent from 2016.
The increase in volume was led by China, a key market for Mitsubishi Motors’ Drive For Growth plan. Annual sales rose by 56 per cent, to 129,160 units. China became Mitsubishi Motors’ largest market thanks to strong demand for the locally produced Outlander.

Performance in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region was also strong with an increase of 17 per cent to 242,224 units, thanks to the launch of Xpander– a compact multi-purpose vehicle - in Indonesia.

In Japan, sales increased by 7 per cent as the marketing of kei-cars resumed.

Since 2010, when the Nissan Leaf was first introduced, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi has sold 540,623 electric vehicles worldwide through its different brands. Cumulatively, the Alliance continues as the global leader for 100 per cent electric passenger cars and light commercial electric vehicles.

The Nissan Leaf, the first mainstream, mass-marketed electric vehicle, remains the world’s best-selling EV with more than 300,000 vehicles sold since its launch in December 2010.

During 2017, the new Nissan LEAF was unveiled and offers customers greater range, advanced technologies and a dynamic new design. It went on sale in Japan last year, and will be rolled out in other major markets during 2018. The new Nissan LEAF received over 40,000 orders globally including 13,000 orders in Japan; 13,000 reservations in the United States; and over 12,000 orders in Europe.
In addition to the Leaf, Nissan’s e-NV200, a light commercial vehicle sold mainly in Europe and Japan, has also recently been upgraded with an additional 100km of driving range in Europe.

In 2017 Renault remained, for the third consecutive year, the leader in Europe’s electric-vehicle segment with a market share of 23.8 per cent and sales volumes increased by 38 per cent. Renault ZOE was the best-selling EV in Europe, with sales increase by 44 per cent.

Since 2011, Renault has sold more than 150,000 electric vehicles worldwide, including Renault ZOE, Renault Kangoo ZE, Fluence ZE and Renault Samsung Motors SM3 ZE.

In 2017, Renault unveiled Master ZE thus announcing a range of zero-emission light commercial vehicles unique in the world (Twizy Cargo, company-car version of ZOE, Kangoo ZE and Master ZE).
In 2017, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi sold 91,000 EVs, up more than 11 percent from 2016.

As part of Alliance 2022 strategic plan, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi is forecasting that annual synergies will exceed €10 billion ($12.45 billion) by the end of 2022. In addition, 12 new zero-emission electric vehicles and 40 vehicles with autonomous drive technology will be launched.

The introduction of new models and new technologies should lift the combined annual sales of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi to more than 14 million units, generating revenues expected at $240 billion by the end of 2022, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service