BEIJING – Renault SA said Tuesday it will shut down its main China business and focus on electric and commercial vehicles.
The French automaker’s 7-year-old joint venture with state-owned Dongfeng Motor Corp. already was suffering from lackluster sales before the outbreak of the coronavirus crushed Chinese demand.
China is the auto industry’s biggest global market but competition is intense and total sales have fallen since their 2017 peak.
First-quarter sales this year fell 45.4% to 2.9 million cars, SUVs and minivans after Beijing closed dealerships and told consumers to stay home to stop the virus’s spread.