Renault supports the Mexican government’s strategy of protecting the domestic market from the avalanche of imports, as Europe currently does with Chinese cars, and even though its cars to market come from South Korea and China, it is preparing for “sourcing” (supply) from the European community or Latin American nationals, where there are trade agreements.
This was announced by Jesús Gallo, CEO of Renault in Mexico, who unveiled his next model for sale in the country, Arkana hybrid, as part of his new era of the French company focused on electrification in Mexico, where he observes sales growth, even in the face of Chinese competition.
Although the French automaker will be impacted by the application of tariffs by the Mexican government of up to 50% on imports from China, South Korea, India, Thailand, and other nations, with which Mexico does not have a trade agreement, Renault’s position is to defend the market and especially encourage it for its development.
In an interview after the reveal of the new Renault Arkana, a coupe SUV, designed in collaboration with the Alpine brand, and which was presented by driver Franco Colapinto, the Renault manager ruled out that the tariff policy in Mexico is seen as a brake, but rather as seeing how you can encourage beyond what is happening within the market.
Jesús Gallo made reference to the strategy implemented by European governments to increase investments as car manufacturers, and recalled “many manufacturers were solid, they manufactured that small car that Europeans like, but for reasons, that car has disappeared by almost 70% in the last 5 years. We have to see how it is implemented in Mexico (the tariff policy), it is fortunate to have many trade agreements with different countries.
Renault has the opportunity to evaluate various sourcing, such as Europe, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and obviously depending on the regulations that are in place in Mexico, the automaker has a plan to continue launching the offensive of products with a hybrid version. He commented that in South Korea, Renault has one of the group’s most modern manufacturing plants worldwide. From there two models are imported: Koleos that Renault launched last June, and now Arkana that is imported in the turbo version and will be enriched with the hybrid version in the following months.
