
Renault’s captive finance arm RCI Banque has appointed a vice president of customers and operations.
Marc Lagrené takes the role after being managing director of RCI Banque in Argentina from 2011 to 2014. He began his career in 1991 at RCI South Africa as performance controller.
From 1995 to 2010, he alternated between positions in management control and credit risk in Italy, at the captive’s French subsidiary DIAC and at RCI’s South Africa headquarters. He is also a director for RCI’s UK subsidiary.
RCI Banque wrote €11.1m (£9.8m) in new business during the first half of 2018, up 6.8% year-on-year.
Growth was driven by an increase in the volume of contracts, which inched closer to the one million mark with 947,146 deals written, up 7.3%. Penetration was up 1.1 percentage points at 41.8%.
RCI Banque has also been a core part of Renault’s drive to raise its profile in the mobility sector. In July, the company’s UK sector RCI Bank acquired a controlling interest in ride-hailing company iCabbi, expanding the group’s presence in the shared mobility space.
RCI now holds 75% of the Ireland-based company, which operates across the British Isles as well as North America.
“The acquisition of a majority interest in iCabbi is part of [RCI’s] goal of becoming a service provider for mobility professionals,” said Bruno Kintzinger, RCI chief executive, calling iCabbi a “technological building block”.