Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance sold 10.6 million vehicles in 2017, overtakes VW and Toyota to top spot

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance sold 10.6 million vehicles in 2017, overtakes VW and Toyota to top spot

The world’s largest automotive group in terms of sales is now the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, which sold 10,608,366 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2017. Now with Mitsubishi in the fold, the Alliance outdid the Volkswagen Group‘s 10.53 million units and Toyota‘s 10.2 million units.

The Alliance said that growing demand for SUVs, light commercial vehicles and a rising number of zero-emission pure electric vehicles helped lift unit sales by 6.5% last year, which was also the first full-year of Mitsubishi’s membership. In 2017, Alliance companies sold vehicles in nearly 200 countries under ten brands – Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Dacia, Renault Samsung Motors, Alpine, Lada, Infiniti, Venucia and Datsun.

“With more than 10.6 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles sold in 2017, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi has become the number-one automotive group worldwide. This evolution reflects the breadth and depth of our model range, our global market presence and the customer appeal of our vehicle technologies,” said Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of the group.

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance sold 10.6 million vehicles in 2017, overtakes VW and Toyota to top spot

Renault’s sales were up 8.5% to 3,761,634 units in 2017. It was a record year for the French brand, which is number two in Europe, and also its budget arm Dacia. Nissan sold 5,816,278 vehicles, up 4.6%. In the US and China, the Japanese carmaker achieved sales growth of 1.9% and 12.2% respectively. Luxury division Infiniti sold 246,492 units, a 7% increase.

New member Mitsubishi sold 1,030,454 vehicles in 2017, up 10% from 2016. The increase in volume was led by China, now MMC’s largest market. There, sales rose by 56% to 129,160 units thanks to strong demand for the locally produced Outlander SUV. Performance in the ASEAN region was also strong with an increase of 17% to 242,224 units, powered by the launch of the Xpander MPV in Indonesia. In Japan, sales increased by 7%.

Electrification and EVs are buzzwords today, but the Alliance was into battery-powered cars before they became fashionable. Since 2010, when the Nissan Leaf was first introduced, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi has sold 540,623 electric vehicles worldwide through its different brands. Cumulatively, the Alliance continues as the world leader for electric cars and light commercial EVs.

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance sold 10.6 million vehicles in 2017, overtakes VW and Toyota to top spot

The second-gen Nissan Leaf went on sale in Japan late last year, and it will be rolled out in other markets throughout 2018, including Malaysia. The EV has received over 40,000 orders globally including 13,000 in Japan, 13,000 reservations in the US and over 12,000 orders from Europe. Over 300,000 Leafs have been sold since December 2010.

In 2017, Renault remained the leader in Europe’s EV sector with a market share of 23.8%, thanks to a sales jump of 38%. The Renault Zoe was the best-selling EV in the continent, with sales rising 44%. Since 2011, Renault has sold more than 150,000 EVs worldwide. Last year, the Alliance sold 91,000 EVs, up more than 11% from 2016.

As part of Alliance 2022 strategic plan, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi is forecasting that annual synergies will exceed 10 billion euros by the end of 2022. In addition, 12 new electric vehicles and 40 vehicles with autonomous drive technology will be launched. The introduction of new models and tech is expected to lift combined annual sales to more than 14 million units and revenues to $240 billion by the end the six-year plan, which is elaborated here.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • 12yrsold on Feb 01, 2018 at 11:15 am

    Bravo & Kudos to Carlos Ghosn for taking the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance to No1.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 4
    • thepolygonal on Feb 01, 2018 at 11:45 am

      Toyota-Perodua-Mazda top spot

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 6
    • Jepunis lord toyota now needs saving as well. Their global sales down, their ASEAN sales is like waterfall. All their cars r hideous outdated dinosars from Jurassic Park. The entire company goyang kaki tido only.

      Lucky China come and help the world. Don’t know what the world will do without China’s help and brains.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 20 Thumb down 7
      • Loy Ah Yap on Feb 01, 2018 at 3:53 pm

        Lucky China come & help MY. Gips more chairs for China masters.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 7
  • mohsin on Feb 01, 2018 at 11:16 am

    Congratulations to Nissan Tan Chong! the Fluence 2.0 is way underrated C-segment car at B-segment pricing.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 13
    • Mohd Taufik Yunos on Feb 01, 2018 at 11:27 am

      Nissan is the only car company in Malaysia giving 7 year warranty. Cause they are so confident of their cars.

      Shameful are those companies still giving 3 year warranty. So malu.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 3
    • Too bad Tan Chong is not part of this success.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 22 Thumb down 4
  • Mohd Taufik Yunos on Feb 01, 2018 at 11:18 am

    “Electrification and EVs are buzzwords today”

    This is why the Alliance is doing well. But sad to say, our Proton and Perodua still got no electrification yet…maybe in year 2050 or 2080.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 2
  • 12yrsold on Feb 01, 2018 at 11:18 am

    Despite with Diesel & DSG gate, VW still managed to sell over 10.5 million units. Don’t play play.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 2
  • 12yrsold on Feb 01, 2018 at 11:20 am

    No one tot that Toyota will drop its position to 3rd despite selling 10.2 million vehicles.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
  • Ollie on Feb 01, 2018 at 12:01 pm

    Ghosn beats Marchionne to global consolidation… So maybe Sergio will now beg Carlos for a merger and create a 15 million car behemoth of shared parts. The car industry as we know it is no more, is now a pizza industry, same base, different toppings. The consumers with little knowledge will literally be taken for a ride..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • Kuinosan on Feb 01, 2018 at 12:05 pm

    No surprise to see Toyota fumbling to no.3 spot with its ugly design and dated tech offered in its cars. They let greed get to their head and this is the consequence. As of VW still staying strong and firm at no.2, it’s because they let their latest products speak for itself. They are attractively designed and utterly good to drive too.
    And for this RNM alliance, it’s just a window dressing success to me as they are combining sales(10.6mil) of 3 car brands which to me is very low indeed. Nowhere near the no.2 and 3 brands. But anyway, they’ll do what it takes to have the feel good factor of beating these giants!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 6
    • Tyler Durden on Feb 02, 2018 at 12:20 am

      Hey dimwit do you know how many brands are there under the VW-umbrella?
      Note that Toyota’s figures are for…Toyotas. Lexus’ & Hino’s numbers are not accounted for.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 4
  • Rayc216 on Feb 01, 2018 at 12:20 pm

    Nissan-renault-mitsubishi > all
    ETCM < all

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • I have severe doubts on ETCM to grow the Nissan brand locally. They just don’t know what they are doing. Teana facelift takda. X-Trail facelift takda. Almera memalukan. Sibuk nak bring in new Serena and Leaf, but their current range is rotting away into oblivion.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 18 Thumb down 2
    • No worries. Basher standards means they doing a gud job!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2
    • Donkey Kong on Feb 01, 2018 at 2:23 pm

      If ETCM don’t know what they doing, some GLC already took over their Nissan production/distribution right like what happen to Boon Siew and UMW.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
      • Is ETCM even worth taking over with those declining sales volumes under 30k annually paired with current opex and liabilities?

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • NABEI on Feb 01, 2018 at 3:38 pm

    Apek Tan Chong of Malaysia donno how to sell cars

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
    • kuli kilang on Feb 02, 2018 at 9:17 am

      at world nissan alliances is number one, but in malaysia nissan is drop at rank no 5. why??

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
      • Simple, the Tan Chong Malaysia management aka the absolute worst Nissan Management in the world now are still selling Old and outdated junk models which no one wants to buy (Almera, old X-Trail, old Teana and the ugly Grand Livina) unlike Nissan Japan, USA, Canada, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.
        Malaysians want to buy the latest Juke, Note, Pulsar and Sentra NISMO models, not the ugly and Sad looking Almera model. Then only can topple Honda Malaysia to 3rd place or below like in Japan.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • How many cars did GM sell? (minus Vauxhall-Opel)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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