Renault tumbles to €8bn loss and warns over chip shortage
Renault this morning fell to a record €8bn (£6.9bn) full year loss as the coronavirus battered the car industry.
And the French auto giant said that the pain could continue in 2021, with the current semiconductor chip shortage knocking production.
The firm estimated that the lack of chips could cause production to fall by 100,000 vehicles this year.
Chief executive Luca de Meo warned investors that they should brace for a “volatile” year as the carmaker attempts to bounce back from the pandemic.
“We are in the midst of a battle to try to manage a difficult year in terms of supply chains, of components”, he said.
“This is all the collateral damage of the Covid pandemic… we will have a fairly volatile year.”
The pandemic also hit Renault’s Japanese partner Nissan hard.
But in a sign that the two parties are committed to making the alliance, which was brokered by now-disgraced former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, work, de Meo said that the firms would announce new joint products together in the coming weeks or months.
It comes after Nissan committed to increasing its investments in factories in the north of England to £1bn.