Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 14 2008

What kind of esteem does Renault hold in your eyes?

Last week I joined a two-day tour of Bursa organized by the
Foundation of Economy Magazines. Like everyone else on the tour, I
returned quite pleased and satisfied with the packed program we were
presented with, as well as all the information we acquired.

Some of the news from this trip has already been published in our
newspaper. But something that hasn’t been covered is our tour of the
Renault facilities and our meetings there.
Before getting to the information part of this report, though, I
would like the following to be known: The Renault company does not
have very good relations with many media organizations. When I say
their relations are not good, I am not talking about advertising.
What I mean is that Renault takes a pointed stance of ignoring many
newspapers and publications. That being the case, there are many
realities ignored by Renault.

Most likely, the managers of Renault will come out and make a pretty
basic statement having to do with Renault’s partnership with Oyak
Group. I think that more and more, Renault is heading down a path
that will damage their global identity.

Renault is the world’s fourth largest automotive giant. The strategic
partnership they created with Nissan brought them new acceleration in
growth both in terms of raising recognition of their brand and in
terms increasing their global competitiveness.

In Turkey, Renault produces an annual total of 320,000 vehicles, has
a turnover of $3.4 billion and enjoys $2.5 billion in exports, all of
which make it one of the leading companies across the board in
Turkey. They also provide tens of thousands of jobs directly and
indirectly. Currently 55 percent of their production supplies comes
from domestic sources, and the targeted rate is 80 percent. Their
capacity this year in their engine factory alone will reach a
production level of 450,000 engines. They enjoy a 22 percent share in
the Turkish national automobile market.

Renault is expecting its profitability rate to rise to 6 percent in
2009, in contrast to last year’s 3 percent, despite economic
fluctuations and global slowdowns. Its Laguna model is expected to be
among the three global top-selling cars this coming year. During this
period, Turkish-based Renault alone will produce an extra 200,000
vehicles.

In the coming years, it is speculated that French companies are going
to show some serious growth with aggressive leadership by Sarkozy in
France. This growth should include not just companies like Renault,
but other French firms as well. The reasons behind this might involve
more than just Sarkozy’s initiatives for French businesses. In any
case, these are my general expectations.

The results from research on the most positively viewed companies in
Turkey are sitting in front of me right now. Interestingly, despite
the fact that Renault is among the top 20 companies in Turkey in
terms of its production, export levels and employment, it does not
take a place in the list of the most favorably viewed companies in
the nation. I cannot actually provide this list here, since it would
be very long. If you are interested in finding a copy, you could
check the Internet.

In recent years Renault fell to sixth place on automotive lists in
Turkey. But why, I wonder.

There are two Renault vehicle companies in Turkey, Reno-Mais and Oyak
Renault. The first is the marketing company and the second is the
production company. At Reno-Mais, the management belongs to Oyak,
while at Oyak Renault the company is actually managed by Renault. As
Oyak controls the marketing side, the overseeing of communications
can take place outside the parameters of Renault’s global
communications management.

There is no one who can ignore an entire segment of society,
especially when we are talking about a French company. Relations
between Turkey and France are at a delicate place, keeping in mind
not only the Armenian issue, but many others as well. You could also
add Sarkozy’s stance on the Turkish quest for EU membership to this
`delicacy’ in relations.

And, of course, bringing about and maintaining institutional esteem
does not happen just by offering to plant a few flowers or trees in
this or that village.

Actually, this is a topic that affects not only Oyak-Renault, but
many other foreign companies as well. The real question is not one of
increasing sales by a few thousand more cars per year in Turkey. The
real question involves creating an institutional identity and an
image for the future and protecting this identity and image. A brief
scan of global car ownership figures indicates that 559 people out of
every one thousand in Germany own a car, a much smaller 82 out of one
thousand in Turkey and a global average of 99 out of one thousand.
This means that Turkey is a great marketing and sales ground for
automobiles and a site of very productive facilities for car
producers.

Renault creates much employment in Turkey and produces many cars
here. Both of these, in turn, create respect and esteem for the
company. But the factor that really needs to see respect in all this
is the people themselves, the same people whose air is being
polluted, whose bread is being eaten and to whom Renault’s products
are being sold.

14.02.2008

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