Renault's Future

1. Continue on building a sustainable brand to appeal to customer’s environmental awareness and concerns about air pollution in cities

Although the importance of environmental friendliness of cars as a buying factor has been decreasing according to studies (cf. Appendix 5), still 65 % of customers regard this as an important factor. Renault has positioned itself as a “sustainable car company”, making sustainable transportation part of its vision and mission. Developing this “green image” and efforts even further, Renault can build a brand associated with sustainable mobility in the form of EV throughout Europe. For that it has to increase its market presence in promising and growing EV markets such as Norway, Netherlands, France, Germany and UK (cf. Appendix 9).

Renault would also have to increase its communication about the eco2 initiative and its Z.E. fleet, emphasizing the sustainability in its advertisement. So far, the advertisements are mainly communicating other factors, such as the UK advertisement focusing more on the quietness and relaxing way to get through the city with an electric car, or the German and Norwegian advertisements, both pointing out the short charging time of the Zoe using humorous elements. Like this, Renault is addressing customers’ concerns about the convenience of EV, but not communicating the “green brand image” they try to develop.

Another way to make the efforts towards sustainability more visible to their customers could be to change the appearance of the company’s logo, like for example McDonald’s did in Europe. The Renault diamond would, just like the McDonald’s bows, still be clearly recognizable, but also communicate the company’s vision and mission better than the current yellow. Appendix 10 illustrates an example for how a green company logo for Renault could look like.

1. Emphasize on sustainable vision of Renault supporting CO2 targets and reducing air pollution and their contribution to a more sustainable society, especially in urban areas

The second option to leverage Renault’s strengths in building a sustainable brand goes in a similar direction as option number 1, but is more focused around the company’s efforts to contribute to a sustainable mobility future by all means.

Ever more innovative models - especially for urban transportation like the Renault Twizy - would improve the portfolio and reduce the overall emissions made by the whole Renault fleet. Alternative models would especially have to be focused around individual urban transportation, offering more comfort than the Twizy and thus becoming an all-year round every-use vehicle, and small transporters (such as the Kangoo Z.E.). Renault is leveraging its strength in sustainable transportation in other fleets, such as the Trucks division, where it launched a new range of environmentally friendly commercial vehicles in 2011.