Renault creates subsidiaries for electric, thermal cars
Paris, Nov 8 (EFE).- Renault formalized Tuesday the creation of two subsidiaries whose capital will be open to foreign partners and investors, one for the development of electric cars and another to concentrate on traditional combustion vehicles.
The first, Ampere, of which the French automobile group will retain a “strong majority” but with the entry of strategic investors such as Qualcomm Technologies, should go public, at the earliest in the second half of 2023, depending on “market conditions.”
In a statement, Renault said that in addition to Qualcomm, it also intends to make alliances to develop “breakthrough technologies” in electric vehicles with Google.
Ampere will be based in France and within its structure, dedicated to manufacturing and marketing 100% electric vehicles of the Renault brand, will have a workforce of about 10,000 employees, including around 3,500 engineers, half of whom will specialize in computer programs.
It plans to market its six models between now and 2030, namely the new Renault 5 Electric, Renault 4 Electric, the Megane E-tech Electric, the Scenic Electric, and two more which haven’t yet been announced. The objective is a production of about 1 million vehicles in 2031.
In addition, the growth ambitions set by the management are of more than 30 percent per year in the next decade.
The second subsidiary, in which the stake will be shared 50 percent by Renault and the Chinese manufacturer Geely, will bring together, in particular, vehicles with thermal and hybrid engines, with an initial turnover of EUR 15 billion and a sales volume of 5 million units a year.
The French group made an effort to underline its confidence in these thermal and hybrid technologies, which in its opinion will continue to represent “up to 50 percent of global sales of private vehicles even on the horizon of 2040.”
It said car sales of this new entity, which will have 17 factories, five research and development centers in Spain, Romania, Sweden, China and South America with 3,000 engineers and 19,000 employees, will continue to grow at a rate 2 percent on average in the 2022-2030 period.
Inside it will be low-cost vehicle brand Dacia, which already generates an operating margin of more than 10 percent, and which has the objective of raising it to 15 percent in 2030.
Within this conglomerate will be the van division with two “disruptive” projects that are the development of vehicles that work with decarbonized hydrogen, through the joint venture formed together with the Plug company, and a “revolutionary” family of electric utility vehicles by its software, to be launched from 2026.
Renault will extract from its perimeter from the second half of 2023 this business, baptized the Horse project, with which it hopes to obtain productivity gains, reduce fixed costs and improve the group’s balance sheet at the same time.
On the other hand, the French manufacturer intends to boost its Alpine sports brand with a range that will be entirely electric from 2026 and with international ambitions, since it expects half of its growth to come from new markets outside Europe, and that potentially includes North America and China. EFE
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