Renault has closed a divided third quarter: group revenue rose 1.5 percent year on year to 11.596 billion euros, yet global vehicle sales fell 6.0 percent to 497,799 units. Automotive revenue held broadly stable at 9.835 billion euros. According to corporate news reports, the results give investors clarity on inventory levels and leave Renault's full-year 2026 targets intact — a reassuring signal at a moment when European volume brands are fighting for every sale.
The volume slide has a clear driver. Industry reporting attributes the 6 percent decline to fiercer competition in Europe and Latin America — regions where Chinese manufacturers are rapidly expanding — even as Renault's EV sales continue to grow. The French brand is thus gaining where the market is electrifying fastest, but ceding volume in the two regions where Chinese entrants are advancing most aggressively.
The wider European backdrop makes the pressure explicit. New vehicle registrations across Europe are up 5.7 percent year-to-date against 2025, with electrified vehicles having a particularly good year, according to WardsAuto. Yet the Schmidt Automotive Research Q3 European New Passenger Car Market Study, published this month, finds European manufacturers' share of their own regional market dipping to a historic low. Renault shipping 6 percent fewer cars into a growing market is a textbook expression of that shift — and a cue for Eastern European dealers that the brand mix on their forecourts is being redrawn.
