Its new electric subsidiary called “Ampere” – without accent – will bring together 10,000 employees in France to produce one million electric vehicles under the Renault brand by 2031, the group said ahead of a day dedicated to investors in Paris.
Ampere is targeting more than 30% annual growth in the next eight years, and 10% margin in 2030, compared to 4.7% for the Renault group in the first half of 2022.
Ampere will notably produce the new Renault 5 and Renault 4 in the North of France.
The diamond brand intends to list this subsidiary on the Paris Stock Exchange “at the earliest in the second half of 2023” and thus finance its costly electric shift while maintaining “a strong majority” in Ampere.
The American manufacturer of electronic chips Qualcomm, supplier of Renault, has already positioned itself as a shareholder of Ampere.
Renault, in which the French state and Nissan each own 15%, has yet to specify the share that its Japanese partner will take in its new electric subsidiary.
This reorganization announces a major overhaul of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, with a reduction in Renault’s share in Nissan’s capital.
– Financing electricity –
On the thermal engine side, Renault will share its activities 50/50 with the Chinese group Geely, which already owns Volvo.
The two partners will create an equipment supplier called “Horse” (horse) which will develop and produce engines, gearboxes and hybridization systems intended for thermal cars (gasoline and diesel) and hybrids.
This Franco-Chinese team will have 19,000 employees in Europe (Spain, Romania and Sweden), China and South America, with ten factories and five R
The group’s finances, however, remain fragile: Renault had begun to recover from a historic loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 before taking a further hit with its withdrawal from Dacia in Russia in the spring of 2022.
With this new part of its strategic plan, called “Revolution”, Renault is aiming for an operating margin above 8% at group level in 2025 and above 10% in 2030.
Renault also intends to restore a dividend in 2023, whereas it has not paid one since 2019. It also intends to increase employee shareholding to 10% of the capital in 2030.
The valuation of traditional automotive groups, however, pales in comparison to that of new entrants specializing in electric cars, such as the American Tesla or the Chinese BYD.
The American Ford has also announced the creation of an electric subsidiary, “Model E”, while the German Volkswagen has launched its Porsche brand on the stock market to finance its electrification.
– Maintain thermal –
A new entity, “Power” (power), will also bring together all the thermal and hybrid activities of the Losange: the Horse subsidiary, therefore, but also the non-electric cars of the Renault brand, those of its economy brand Dacia, which will gradually electrify and which aims for a 15% margin in 2030, and commercial vehicles.
The Alpine sports brand will also grow by opening up to investors. While it currently only manufactures one model, the A110, which has sold a few thousand copies, it will rely on its new notoriety due to its presence in Formula 1 to seek investors.
In addition to the next A110, a small sedan and an SUV, all electric, Alpine also plans to launch a large sedan and a luxury sedan, and expand in particular to North America or China.
The brand is targeting growth of 40% per year between 2022 and 2030 and more than 8 billion euros in turnover in 2030.
“We are designing an agile and innovative organization to manage the volatility and accelerated technological evolution of our time,” said Group CEO Luca de Meo.
The group also announced a strengthening of its partnership with Google to design a new electronic platform for its vehicles from 2026.
