Renault UK recalls Bouvier to lead the marketing team

Renault UK has appointed Emmanuel Bouvier as its new marketing director. He replaces Olivier Généreux, who becomes marketing director for the Asia and Africa region.

Bouvier, who reports to UK managing director Philippe Talou-Derible in his new role, joined Renault as an area operations manager in 1998 and was made manager of marketing planning for Renault UK in 2000.

He rejoins the UK business from France, where he was most recently director of the European importer division. Bouvier will lead a team of more than 50 staff as UK marketing director.

Renault has just launched the new Mégane and Espace models and will unveil the new Clio Renaultsport at the Geneva Motorshow this week.

Bouvier says: “The new Clio Renaultsport is a vital model to the UK because it is the Renaultsport’s biggest market, accounting for around 50% of all sales.”

Renault’s UK sales for January were down more than 40% on the same period last year. The company sold 8,567 cars in January this year, compared to 14,370 in 2005.

Its overall UK sales for 2005 sales were also down. The manufacturer sold 174,743 vehicles in this country last year, compared to 189,342 in 2004 – a fall of almost 8%.