Guigues: "Renault can do much better in Italy. The Chinese don't scare us."

LOCOROTONDO – At Renault, there's a waltz of top executives following the surprise departure of Luca de Meo, the group's CEO, who left the sector after 33 years to join Kering's luxury goods business. The new general manager of Renault Italy, Sébastien Guigues, 48, a Frenchman from Avignon, who spent his life in Spain, where he completed his university studies, has just arrived in Rome. He spent 15 years in Barcelona working at Seat, where de Meo hired him as head of the French group's Spanish subsidiary in Madrid, and from there he has now transferred to Italy.

The occasion for a brief, informal meeting with Guigues is the ninth edition of the Viva! Electronic Music Festival in the Itria Valley in Puglia, of which Renault has been a partner for four years. Under the spotlight and with its signature pulsating timbre is the Renault 4 E-Tech Electric, successor to the historic Quatrelle, now with a complex mission: challenging the markets with an all-electric powertrain, in the name of zero-emission mobility, where Italy is among the last major EU countries in terms of market share, even behind Spain. Orders for the car are already open, with dealership launch scheduled for September. "I believe it's the right time to arrive in Italy with the Renault 4," Guigues introduces himself, "also because there's no turning back on electric vehicles. We just need to figure out which electric car to market. And I think the 4 could be the right one, starting with its compact size."

Five doors, more crossover than SUV, just over four meters long but with room on board for those sitting in the back and for luggage (a different story compared to its cousin 5, sportier and slightly shorter), the Renault 4 E-Tech Electric follows what they call in Paris the “two legs” strategy, one electric and one hybrid, which at Renault means full and plug-in and not mild as is the case with other competitors.

We ask Guigues what his first goals are and how he intends to address the Chinese brands' offensive, given what is clearly a challenging market for everyone, with strong international storms blowing. "The Renault brand in Italy is in sixth place; we're low. We can do much better by fixing some internal issues to sell more cars," he replies defiantly. And the Chinese? "They'll need 15 or 20 years in Italy to get to where we are at Renault," he says confidently. "I'll use Spain as an example, which I know well, of course. The Chinese brands arrived three years ago; they have a growing market share, but so is Renault's, while it has decreased for some of our rivals. Let's say that the new eats the weakest. We're happy to see other brands like the Chinese ones arriving, but we're playing on our home turf. The first thing I told our dealer network was: be careful about taking on Chinese brands. They're free to do so, of course, but there's a risk of losing money. And I want financially sound partners."