QWho said the French weren’t open to the world? Since Louis XIV, France has had a real fascination for the Far East. The business world occupies the outpost. Citroën, hero of the Yellow Cruise in 1931, was one of the first Western manufacturers to sell cars in Maoist China in 1984. Thirty years later, its partner Dongfeng entered the capital of the parent company PSA.
But fascination quickly mingles with fear. Thursday July 6, 2023, Carlos Tavares, the boss of Stellantis, castigated the European politicians guilty, in his eyes, of “roll out the red carpet” Chinese manufacturers with their all-electric policy. And Jean-Dominique Senard, the president of Renault, brandished, on the stage of the Economic Meetings of Aix-en-Provence, Saturday, July 8, the threat of a “Chinese storm” in the skies of the Old Continent. The two bosses evoke the growing domination of the Middle Kingdom over the entire electrical sector, from mines to cars.
Each actor reacts in his own way. Faced with the oncoming storm, Renault chose the lightning rod method: attract to neutralize. The manufacturer thus formalized, Tuesday, July 11, the signing of an agreement with Geely, the Chinese industrialist most present in Europe since its acquisition of Volvo, in 2010. They both focused on the baptismal font a new company commune, at 50-50, which aims to become the world leader in internal combustion engines.
Sales increase
In total, seventeen factories in the world are poured into the basket of the bride and groom. A way for Renault to more clearly separate its business today, gasoline cars, from that of tomorrow, electric cars. This company of the old world should also welcome the Saudi oil company Aramco to its capital. The calculation is that the world will still need thermal and hybrid engines for a long time to come, even if Europe no longer wants them.
It is also, of course, the way to purify the rest of the group with the creation of the Ampere company, focused on electrics and listed on the stock market probably in 2024. This one without the Chinese, but with the tumultuous Japanese partner Nissan. Brick by brick, the offensive strategy of Luca de Meo, the general manager of Renault, is being put in place, abundant and imaginative, made up of organizational innovation and the multiplication of product releases. It seems to be bearing fruit, since in the first half of the year the group increased its sales by more than 20% in Europe. Renault’s two lightning rods do not simplify the landscape, carry great risks, but at least they announce the stormy weather.