September sales of Renault electrified models enjoyed a headline-grabbing year-on-year uplift of 71% compared to last year underlining how the manufacturer is meeting the UK’s increasing appetite in that space.

Ben Fish joined Renault UK in August 2022 as network operations director and spoke to AM to discuss the car maker's priorities over the next 12 months which will see the launch of the Scenic E-Tech electric and the all-electric Renault 5 as part of an ambitious 'Renaulution' strategy.

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You had some great sales figures for September. What do you attribute that performance to?

It was probably the first time since the pandemic that we've had the means to deliver such growth and results. So it's great for us as a brand to show what we're capable of and for our network which has been desperate to see growth. We achieved 2.5 per cent retail market share year to date, with over 3.5 per cent market share in the month, with an 81% growth in passenger cars year-on-year in September. You can imagine from a network point of view that that additional throughput and therefore revenue was really good to see.

How do you explain the British public's fascination with the Renault Clio - it was September’s fourth best-selling retail car in the UK?

We had a particular focus on the Clio in the third quarter. We had been hampered by not having enough Clios for a long while so this was good timing for us to get a supply of that model as it was going out.

Clio has been a real pillar of strength for the Renault brand for decades, especially in the UK. As we're launching the new Clio this month, we had an opportunity to see the previous version out with a bit of a bang with some coordinated campaigns across the network and some really compelling offers for the consumer.

It's often the case that when you're launching a lot of new models, the existing model range doesn't always get much attention. But this was a good opportunity to put the focus back on the Clio and showed just how loved that product is in the UK market. The new updated Clio is an exciting evolution in product design, technology, and build quality. The network is starting to see a step change in the Renault product story with this new launch and with what is due to launch over the next 12 months.

What's the big wow factor with the new Clio E-Tech full hybrid?

The fantastic thing is the way we've been able to position that car in the market with a slightly lower headline price than the outgoing model due to the evolution in terms of cost base, technology and design that's gone into it. We've been able to put a really compelling proposition together for consumers, which is really important in the current market economic environment. So for us to be able to bring in a car like that to the market at that price point, I think is really exciting.

What is Renault's launch plan for 2024?

We've got a bumpy year in 2024. The big launch next year is the new fully electric Scenic towards the end of the first quarter which will be a massive step on in terms of our battery electric transformation. We've got other launches planned in 2024, including the new Rafale which is our D segment Halo product in the second half of next year - first of all as a hybrid and then later in the year, as a plug in hybrid. That will really set the set the tone in terms of ultimate technology and design. Overall, we will have 12 new launches over the next year.

What measures are you putting in place at the dealership level to ensure that busy launch plan is a success?

It's a fantastic opportunity, and we've got to be absolutely hand in glove with our dealer network to be able to bring those products to market and give them all the same level of focus and attention that they deserve. I think you’d be hard pushed to find another dealer network in the UK that's going to have that volume of new product in such a short space of time.

When I joined 18 months ago, Renault was ranked bottom of the NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey and it was clear that we had some work to do. I came in with a very clear mandate that we needed to build an absolutely solid partnership with our dealer partners if we're going to leverage and succeed in all deploying the Renault group’s plans over the next three years.

We've just had the Dealer Attitude Survey results update and we moved up to 17th which is fantastic progress. We're now mid-table which has been achieved through the collaborative strength of our relationship on a day-to-day basis in terms of our field force and that's really encouraging to see. We also now have a highly successful Dealer Council which enables us to be on point in terms of the hot topics and pressures.

The interesting thing to see is the amount of passion and love that continues to be in the network for Renault as a brand. It just needed a little bit more of an alignment in terms of our working culture to realise that we were all going through the same thing and that working together can be much more successful than if we're butting heads.

Are you making any changes to the network?

We announced in May that we'll be reducing the size and structure of our dealer network by 2025, with a reduction of around 29 sites. We've actually spoken face to face to all the affected partners over the four months since.

I guess what was really important to me was firstly that we future-proof our network going forward. One thing we can't escape are the cost pressures that the industry and all OEMs are under. Development of all this new fantastic product is expensive and the focus on being efficient and lean in the face of industry trends for both the OEM and the dealer is really important.

First of all, it was about making sure that we right-size our network and that we have the right representation in the right place. We now have a plan to do that and that means we have to reduce the number of sites.

We'll reduce from around 140 points of representation on sales to just over 115 although it’s important to note that this only reduces our coverage within a 45-minute drive time by 1% but we'll still have 96% coverage.

Where do you see growth in the market for Renault?

The group is very committed to making sure we maintain a supply/demand balance for our brands to be successful and for our network although whilst we're seeing supply return in the wider market, we have to make sure that what we do is sustainable so we will grow where we can grow and where we have the opportunity to grow. For me, that's through mainly the new models that will come over the next 12-18 months.

The most profitable and sustainable way to grow a car brand for me is to grow with new models as they come in rather than trying to sweat existing models in the market. We have to very closely monitor what the market does over the next six to nine months however because the economy is a bit up and down still and we have to remain conscious of consumer spending power.

I am, however, very confident with the products that are coming that we will continue to grow the Renault brand. I do think that when you see the products that are coming, they're incredibly exciting and I think they will be real head-turners for the consumers in the UK.