Renault UK's new MD revealed as Guillaume Sicard to run France market

Guillame Sicard, managing director of Renault UK, will head back to his homeland this autumn to take on the new role of vice president, Renault brand, for the market area France.

Sicard has been at the Maple Cross-based national sales company since January 2022 and led the national team through the implementation of the ‘Renaulution’ five-year strategy, which Renault Group described as a new era for its business.

On October 1 Adam Wood will become the new managing director of Renault UK, and the country manager for Renault Group UK which includes the Dacia and Alpine brands.

Wood joins Renault Group from Stellantis, where he has been running its Peugeot sales and marketing operation.

A Renault statement said Sicard has delivered a significant business expansion in a complex post-pandemic environment and "steered Renault's re-emergence as a leading player in the UK market".

It also described Wood's appointment as "a homecoming", noting that he had began his automotive retail career on Renault's graduate programme.

Prior to joining Stellantis, Wood (pictured, right) served for 14 years at Renault UK, in roles across marketing communications, product marketing and brand management, including senior positions as Dacia brand director.

"Wood is joining Renault UK at a pivotal time.  Renault is one of the fastest-growing brands in the UK over the past two years by registration volumes, and is seeking to drive home the early successes of the Renaulution with further growth as it renews and expands its model line up across passenger cars and LCVs," the company added.

Over the next 18 months, the Renault car range will expand from seven to 12 models, with a line-up of Renault 4, Renault 5, Scenic, Rafale, Symbioz, Megane, Clio, Captur, Arkana, Austral, Rafale, Trafic Passenger. Three of those (4, 5, Symbioz) are new introductions to the range, while alternative fuels, including full electric and plug-in hybrid, feature heavily.

That’s a key factor, as Renault Group looks set to miss the ZEV Mandate target for cars this year, which requires 22% of registrations to be full electric. At the end of May, it had sold 81,936 across the group, with 6,964 of those full electric – just 8.4%.

The company has conceded that meeting the ZEV Mandate will be “extremely challenging”, particularly on cars, but insists Renault’s goal “is to hit the target”.