PARIS — Renault on Wednesday said it would suspend operations at its plant in Moscow while it assesses options on its majority stake in AvtoVaz, the country’s No. 1 carmaker.
The French carmaker as a consequence revised its operating group margin to around 3 percent from at or above 4 percent.
Renault, which gets about 10 percent of its revenue from Russia, has been reluctant to pull back from the country as all other major automakers have since the invasion of Ukraine.
However the French automaker has faced increasing criticism after it resumed production this week at its Avtoframos plant near Moscow. The factory builds the Renault Duster, Kaptur and Arkana models, and the Nissan Terrano.
“Renault Group activities in its manufacturing plant in Moscow are suspended as of today,” the company said in a statement. “Regarding its stake in AvtoVaz, Renault Group is assessing the available options, taking into account the current environment, while acting responsibly towards its 45,000 employees in Russia.”
Earlier, a UK opposition politician who has been campaigning for the sanctioning of Russian oligarchs like Roman Abramovich is calling for British car buyers to boycott Renault.
“Renault resumes manufacture in Russia,” Chris Bryant, a member of parliament for the Labour Party, wrote on Twitter. “It’s time we stopped buying them in the UK.”
