Alec Luhn / MT

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When Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky bought a Renault in 1928, he incurred so much disapproval that he wrote "A Reply to Future Gossip" in response.

"Well, then, please excuse me for bringing back from Paris a Renault and not cologne or a tie," Mayakovsky rejoins at the end of the poem.

Once considered bourgeois, French carmaker Renault — and its auto compatriots Peugeot and Citroen — have gone proletarian in Russia. Cars from Renault are now a common sight on Russian roads, and Renault sold the third-highest number of cars here in the January-April period this year. It produces its car brands on assembly lines here, as do Peugeot and Citroen — although those two companies have less market presence and less support from Russia's government. As all three carmakers are striving to boost sales and production, the status of their business partnerships and government relationships will be critical.

Renault, for example, has a stake in AvtoVAZ, the Russian auto giant. "Through AvtoVAZ, [Renault] has the support of the state," said Mikhail Pak, an auto industry analyst at investment firm Aton. "In Russia, this is one of the most decisive factors."

Renault has been making a strong statistical showing. For the first four months of 2011, Renault sold about 46,000 vehicles, according to statistics compiled by the Association of European Businesses. Its Logan model, which goes for 327,000 rubles ($12,000), was the 

highest-selling foreign car in Russia in the first quarter of 2011, the AEB said. It isn't a new entrant to the market: Renault has been assembling cars at its Avtoframos production plant in Moscow for years.

Car market analysts expect the Russian car market to increase by leaps and bounds as it recovers from the market downturn of the past few years, and auto executives said in interviews that they share that expectation.

Francois Provost, deputy managing director of Renault Russia, said his brand wants to follow and even outpace the current upward curve of the Russian car market by increasing production and opening new dealerships in midsize cities. This year, Renault plans to nearly double output at Avtoframos to 160,000 cars per year by adding a night shift, as well as open 10 dealerships, the executive said. Renault already has 120 dealerships.

"Our ambition is to [grow] even quicker than the market and to increase our market share," Provost said.

Renault did exactly that as the Russia automobile market was emerging this year from its crisis-induced slump. Overall, new consumer vehicle sales rose 64 percent from January through April, but Renault's sale of about 46,000 cars represented a rise of 80 percent, according to the AEB. By comparison, the 47,000 cars sold by Russia's second-largest player, U.S. powerhouse Chevrolet, marked a 45 percent increase for the brand. Market leader Lada (the main brand of Russian auto giant AvtoVAZ) saw a 41 percent increase, selling about 176,000 cars.

And if Renault can continue to outperform the market, it could keep ahead of the positive trend that's predicted for the auto market. Earlier this year, for instance, the Boston Consulting Group estimated that Russia would go from the 10th-largest car market to the sixth-largest by 2020.

In addition, the three French carmakers benefit from the government's extension until the end of 2011 of its "cash-for-clunkers" car trade-in program.

Renault has the "most interesting prospects" in Russia of the French carmakers because of its strong sales, as well as its partnership with Russia's largest auto producer, AvtoVAZ, Pak said.

In 2008, Renault paid roughly $1 billion for a 25 percent stake in AvtoVAZ, winning three of the 12 seats on AvtoVAZ's board of directors and, by extension, a green light to expand here.

Currently, Renault has a 6 percent market share in Russia, Provost said. But once the stakes of AvtoVAZ and Renault partner Nissan are factored into the equation — 23 percent and 5 percent, respectively — the trio controls 34 percent of the Russian market. That isn't far from the 40 percent market share that Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has said the conglomerate could reach this year. Renault owns a 44.3 percent stake in Nissan, while the Japanese carmaker owns a 15 percent share in Renault.

Peugeot and Citroen

Meanwhile, Peugeot and Citroen are laying their own plans for expansion.

Originally separate companies, Peugeot and Citroen merged in 1976. PSA Peugeot Citroen manufactures both brands, but each handles its own sales and marketing. In current-year sales through April, Peugeot had about 2 percent of the Russian car market, while Citroen had 1 percent, according to AEB statistics. In that same period, Peugeot sold 13,000 cars, and Citroen — about 7,600.

After selling 17,000 cars last year, Citroen is looking to increase its sales to 40,000 cars this year and 100,000 units in the second half of this decade, said Jean-Louis Chamla, general director of Citroen Russia. He wants Citroen to become a "good brand on the shopping list of most Russian consumers," and that will require increasing brand value and visibility on the Russian market, he said.

"Sales are progressing, helping us give more strength to the brand and the image," Chamla explained.

Establishing its image has been the biggest challenge for Citroen in Russia, Chamla said, because it began importing its cars to Russia only in 2008, while PSA Peugeot Citroen began manufacturing here, at a new plant in Kaluga, in 2010.

Chamla said Citroen's market share and sales volume have increased every year since 2008. The brand has shown the strongest growth of the three French brands this year, selling 7,570 cars through April, an increase of 113 percent year on year.

The growth, however, is relative. Citroen has had more room for growth because it started behind the competition in brand recognition and sales, said Sergei Udalov, assistant director of Avtostat, an analytical group.

But, he noted, Citroen's competitive discounts and sales campaigns during the financial crisis helped the brand sell cars despite the financial climate.

Repeated requests for comment made to Peugeot spokespeople went unanswered.

Udalov agreed with Chamla's statement that Citroen needs to broaden its appeal with buyers, as it currently has the narrowest or most "niche" appeal of the three French brands here.

"The right advertising and the formation of a wider audience than it has now are important for Citroen, more so than for any other brand," Udalov said.

As Renault has firmly established itself as a budget carmaker, Citroen and, to a lesser degree, Peugeot have positioned themselves as "designer" brands for the select car buyer, offering superior design and comfort, analysts said. While the number of customers who would buy this mid-range status symbol is growing, the most reliable strategy for the Russian market is offering the lowest price possible, Udalov said.

"Citroen is already going in this direction" with its latest models and discounts, he said. "Price is important, and they've started to compete with their prices."

Renault still has the budget market cornered with its 327,000 ruble Logan, however. Peugeot's 207 hatchback, its cheapest model that's comparable in size to the Logan, starts at 454,000 rubles ($16,000), and Citroen's similarly sized C3 starts at 498,000 rubles ($18,000). Both PSA brands also offer smaller models for less than 400,000 rubles.

Although price is important, Peugeot and Citroen should focus on the mid-range C and D classes rather than the economy segment, where Renault is dominant, Pak said.

"As far as PSA is concerned, they would be better off to orient themselves namely on mid-class cars with a price starting at 500,000 rubles," the Aton analyst said.

Renault, for its part, is focusing on more expensive segments, though the Logan and its hatchback counterpart, the Sandero, will continue to be the main sellers, Provost said.

The Logan comprises 50 percent of Renault's sales in Russia, whereas the Sandero accounts for 30 percent. Renault has also introduced two C-class automobiles, the Megane and the Fluence, which start at 569,000 rubles and 579,000 rubles, respectively.

"The market is increasing in all car segments, and the strategy of the Renault brand is to be present in all segments," Provost said. "And to do this we should extend [our] range."

Partnering for Success

All three of the French brands have leaned heavily on their business partnerships to expand in Russia, especially when it has come to establishing production lines. PSA Peugeot Citroen's PSMA Rus factory in Kaluga — Mitsubishi Motors owns 30 percent of the plant — opened in 2010 and cost $630 million. It will reach an capacity of 125,000 cars a year, beginning in 2012. Of those 125,000 cars, 80 percent will be Peugeot and Citroen sedans.

Financing, stocking of parts, production facilities and hiring employees are done jointly at the plant, Chamla said. Yet, despite the close cooperation between those two French brands up until the sales and distribution phase, Peugeot and Citroen do in fact compete on the market, Chamla maintained.

"We are real competitors," he said. "Both brands have their objectives, but we have things in common, too," foremost of which is the Kaluga plant, he also said.

Currently, the plant assembles vehicles via semi-knockdown production, with some parts imported for local assembly, Chamla said. An agreement with the Russian government obligates the plant to eventually source 30 percent of its parts here in Russia.

Meanwhile, Renault has been producing cars locally for more than five years and has plans to expand its production in Russia. It launched Avtoframos as a joint venture with the Moscow city government in 2005. The carmaker is now setting up a joint production line with AvtoVAZ at AvtoVAZ's factory in Tolyatti, Russia's car production capital southeast of Moscow. Lada, Renault and Nissan will each produce on this assembly line vehicles based on the Logan platform, with Renault's production to start in 2013, Provost said.

The three carmakers will eventually have a production capacity of 1.6 million vehicles at their three factories, the Renault executive added.

Producing cars in Russia and finding local suppliers provides an "interesting challenge," according to Provost. He said Renault sources 54 percent of the parts used in production at Avtoframos from local suppliers.

"The biggest demand is the government's [demand] that we have more production in Russia," Provost said.

Renault has had to pay its dues for access to the additional production facilities in Tolyatti, however. When AvtoVAZ was in financial straits in fall 2009, the government ordered Renault to increase its AvtoVAZ holding by $500 million. Though Renault and the government eventually agreed that the carmaker wouldn't increase its holding, the company did agree to provide AvtoVAZ with technology worth 240 million euros ($341 million), including the Logan platform.

Platform sharing is the production of different car brands using the same base components, and it has allowed all three French brands to reduce production costs and, in turn, price tags, Udalov said. But, he noted, Renault has made the most of platform sharing.

"Renault's main advantage is that it learned how to make cheap cars in Russia," Udalov said. "It learned how to save money on one platform," he also noted.

The company's higher production volume and market share will probably facilitate its continued expansion in Russia, in which Renault sells more than two cars for every PSA car that's sold, Pak said.

He said the AvtoVAZ partnership also gives Renault access to the Russian company's sales network, which will make it easier for the French brand to open dealerships in the regions, as well as perhaps to sell its own cars via AvtoVAZ dealers.

Meanwhile, Peugeot and Citroen will have a more difficult time competing, given their smaller dealer networks and production volumes, Pak and Udalov noted.

In addition, all three French brands face competition from other foreign carmakers looking to expand in Russia, such as Chevrolet and South Korea's Hyundai and Kia. Peugeot and Citroen are competing largely with European brands such as Opel, Skoda and Volkswagen, Udalov said. All of those competitors have models eligible for the cash-for-clunkers program.

Yet, Provost said, Renault's greatest worry is producing enough cars to keep up with demand. "The challenge is not to create the network of suppliers," Provost said. "The challenge is the speed" of the market's growth, he said.