RENAULT Middle East is marking a record breaking first quarter, as it achieves its highest ever GCC market share (1.5 percent). Despite a decline in the region’s overall market, Renault Middle East has secured an increase of 0.29 percent in the first quarter of 2018, compared to its position in the same quarter last year.

In Egypt, where the best-selling model is the Kadjar SUV, Renault was ranked the fourth best-selling automotive brand in the county at the end of the first quarter of 2018, out-selling Toyota with 2,369 units and holding a market share of 7.42 percent.

Renault is setting new standards in terms of lead response times, and from January promised to respond to all online enquiries in less than two hours. As a result, sales generated from online leads increased by 27 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year.

The MY Renault app – which allows customers to book service appointments in just a few clicks, as well as discover a world of services and rewards – has seen rising numbers of users. Today, 83 percent of customers in the GCC are connected to the app, with around 700 users signing in per day, and, in quarter one of 2018, 6 percent of all workshop entries in the GCC were booked using the app.

With growing new car sales in the region, Renault is focusing on delivering the most convenient and cost effective aftersales operation to its customers. For the first time in the region, Renault Middle East hosted its inaugural Aftersales Convention in Istanbul which saw 50 participants from its importer network meet with aftersales experts from the global and regional teams to focus on quality and service.

Commenting on the confident start to the year, Marwan Haidamous, Managing Director of Renault Middle East, said “we’ve seen a strong start to 2018 which is thanks to many factors. The team at Renault Middle East is working hard to bring the brand to the position it deserves to be in the region, which is challenging in the current market conditions.”

With a strong focus on the digital customer experience we are making the lives of our customers easier and more convenient; a proof point of this is the rise we have seen workshop entries from digital, which has increased by 130 percent across the region.

And, we’ve also been pushing hard with high profile marketing campaigns to raise awareness of the brand – the biggest of which has been our partnership with The Voice Arabia. Through that partnership alone we saw a rise in our share of voice, online search inquiries increased by 45 percent, and we facilitated over 400 test drives.

“All of this, backed with an excellent recently renewed range of products means we are looking forward to celebrating more record breaking milestones in the future.”

The French car brand is part of the world’s largest automotive alliance group alongside its partners Nissan and Mitsubishi. Renault Middle East is headquartered in Dubai, where it oversees the brand’s regional operations spanning 16 countries across the Arabian Gulf, Levant and Egypt. — SG