This is how Groupe Renault walks into the future: cheap hybrids, sustainable electric vehicles

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A trade show stand, like any other, is of course smaller than it actually is. A new car is on the scene; All electric of course. And there are big promises: All models will be electrified in Europe by 2025 at the latest, with zero CO₂ emissions across the range by 2050. So who will present the new generation at IAA Mobility in Munich (still today)? (D) One might get the wrong impression at Scenic’s Renault stand. Because no stone is left unturned for the French automobile manufacturer.

Renault’s departure is primarily linked to a single name: Luca de Meo (56). In his career at Fiat and the VW Group, he mostly pulled the marketing strings from the background, learning from big names like Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne (1952-2018) what works and, above all, what doesn’t work in the automotive industry. . The native Italian from Milan later achieved success by taking over the VW subsidiary Seat: from just one equipment variant label, he suddenly founded the sports brand Cupra. This opened up new revenue opportunities for the Spanish VW subsidiary with standalone and high-margin models in the Cupra, without having to give up the advantageous price positioning in Seat.

De Meo has led the Renault Group since July 2020. He was depressed when he started: he lost eight billion euros the year he took office and profitability plummeted. There is also disagreement with collaboration partner Nissan over former CEO Carlos Ghosn, 69, who is accused of embezzlement following his arrest and spectacular escape from Japan. For too long the company has been saying “Go for it!” focused on the subject. The left did not adapt its model range to new customer expectations and found itself caught between the influence of the French unions and the French state as a 20 percent shareholder.

Three steps to resurrection

De Meo fought freely and redesigned the company on the drawing board. He took with him confidants from his Seat days and former Peugeot designer Gilles Vidal, 50, who now designs new products as if he were at a concert. And it has set clear targets: a return to profitability by 2023, a reorganization of group divisions by 2025, followed by a move to “Renaulution”, meaning the rise to a high-tech and mobility group. By evolving the entry-level Dacia brand from cheap to cool, De Meo was able to offer a sensible alternative just in time for inflation and fickle customers.

Renault will focus on two model series until 2035. The first of these will be hybrids on the same platform at family-friendly prices in the middle and compact classes. It starts with the XL version, which is the successor to the Austral SUV and Espace minivan. It is likely to be a successor to the small Clio, with the Rafale complemented by plug-in hybrid drive and all-wheel drive as the top model in the range. Otherwise, plug-in hybrids will leave the Renault program because European governments no longer want to support them.

Two model lines at Renault

The second line will be electric vehicles on its own electric platform. Based on the compact Megane E-Tech Electric, the new version of the Scenic will arrive in early 2024 with 218 hp (160 kW) and significantly more space, especially in the rear. Renault relies on low consumption instead of huge batteries. “Our approach is about optimized efficiency and low weight: the Scenic weighs just 1.8 tonnes instead of over two tonnes like its rivals,” says Fabrice Cambolive (55), once a Swiss Renault director and now the brand’s top boss. From 2024/25, new versions of the R4 and R5 are planned to be launched electrified in the small car segment; electric cars are still rare in this segment. “None of these will be retro cars; we’re building on our history.”

To this end, the group is establishing an electrical competence center called Ampere, which will not appear as a brand but will instead provide a modular system for cells, batteries and drives. A gigafactory is being built at a new site in Douai in northern France, which will produce 24 gigawatt hours (GWh) annually from 2030, i.e. 276,000 Scenic batteries.

Sustainability as key

Cambolive also relies on the optimal use of resources: instead of just once as before, electric cars with their technology, which is more durable than internal combustion engines, will be marketed by the factory multiple times in the future. . “We can update a car at the factory two or three times and resell it,” Cambolive explains, “before the battery goes into second use and is recycled much later.” Renault is already implementing this in the cafeteria at Flins (F); Repaired cars are sold online. Old battery modules can then be marketed on a large scale as foldable power units for construction sites or tradesmen.

In this way, de Meo wants to create a profitable and sustainable basis for his passion project: the rise of the sports subsidiary Alpine to a premium brand with seven new electric models in seven years. Renault’s moves into the upper segment have never gone over well, but the Alpine image can still be shaped to look noble. De Meo has already done this elsewhere.

Source: Blick