Renault is selling off dealerships in the factory-owned Renault Retail Group in France as it prepares for online sales.
The carmaker is selling off 10 dealerships and its Grenelle site in Paris between now and 2024 to prepare for what it described as a “backdrop of a deep-seated transformation” in the automotive market.
Renault said in order to ensure “sustainable and profitable” growth it was preparing for digital change, focusing investment and putting in place plans to protect jobs.
Renault said it had identified “reliable and robust buyers” who were already marketing the group’s brands so it could guarantee business continuity and job protection.
Renault Retail Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault. It is the second largest automotive distribution company in Europe, with two million customers.
Renault Retail Group markets the Renault, Dacia and Nissan brands and has 12,000 employees at 275 sites in 14 European countries. It has 94 sites in France.
In 2019, Renault Retail Group realized 35% of the sales volume in France and 20% in Europe.
In the UK Renault Retail Group is rated 31 in the Motor Trader Top 200 Dealer Groups with annual turnover of £545.5m and pre-tax losses of -£3.5m in the year to December 2018.
The group has 17 dealerships in the UK and a used car operation, Autoworld Willenhall.