RCI Financial Services re-brands as Mobilize Financial Services UK

Renault Group has rebranded its financial services arm as Mobilize Financial Services UK.

The new name is said to reflect the company’s “strong relationship” with the Renault Group brand dedicated to new mobilities, Mobilize.

It supports Renault’s strategy to expand its remit outside the automotive industry, with the Mobilize brand set to account for 30% of the group’s revenue by 2030.

Mobilize will launch a network of ultrafast charging stations, a service dedicated to taxi and ride-hailing professionals and a car sharing vehicle.

Mobilize Financial Services UK will be the brand reference for Renault Group brands customers, including Renault, Dacia and Alpine who are looking for a complete range of services related to the usage of their cars. Nissan customers will also benefit from the same quality of services and products, through the Nissan Financial Services brand.

Alice Altemaire, CEO of Mobilize Financial Services UK, said: “Our rebrand to Mobilize Financial Services comes at a really exciting time as the market is shifting towards new, innovative services and digital customer journeys. All of these will allow customers to reduce their vehicle ownership costs while having access to greener mobility. It demonstrates how we, as a business, are continuously evolving keeping Mobilize Financial Services at the forefront of innovation in the UK.”

Since the creation of Mobilize in January 2021 and the rebrand of RCI Bank and Services to Mobilize Financial Services in May 2022, the two brands have partnered to enhance development of new mobility solutions and offers.

Renault Group is embarking on a “Renaulution” strategy which aims to halve the Renault, Dacia, Lada and Alpine carmakers’ number of vehicle platforms while delivering 24 model launches by 2024.

The company has upgraded its profit expectations for 2022 despite suffering H1 losses due to a writedown of its car manufacturing operations in Russia.

The French carmaker reported a €1.36 billion (£1.14bn) net loss for the period following a €2.2bn (£1.85bn) writedown on the value of its Russian operations which included the sale of its majority stake in the country’s biggest vehicle producer AvtoVAZ for an amount reported to be one ruble.

But as vehicle sales declined by nearly 30% to around one million units new models and better pricing improve profitability resulted in operating margins of 4.7% - up 2.6ppts year-on-year.

The improvement has prompted the Renault Group to upgrade its full-year margin forecast from 3% to more than 5%.