Renault Delays Plan to Consolidate AvtoVAZ

Renault SA says it will probably delay until next year plans to consolidate its Lada-making OAO AvtoVAZ unit, Bloomberg News reports.

Chief Financial Officer Dominique Thormann says adding AvtoVAZ to the company's books isn't likely until after 2015. Analysts say the company, which reported strong results for 2014 earlier this week, wants to shield its balance sheet from the havoc of Russia's economic and geopolitical upheavals.

Russia's car market is expected to shrink 24% or more this year. Renault's sales in the country fell 7% last year and plunged one-third in January, according to the Moscow-based Assn. of European Businesses. AEB reports Lada sales dropped 15% last year and 26% in January.

In response to the slump, Lada is trimming its management staff 15%. Renault will begin a three-week shutdown on Monday at its Avtoframos assembly plant in Moscow.