* Better show Renault’s strengths in electric-De Meo
* Increase synergies in other thermal activities
* Renault is considering Nissan or long-term investors
* Protect assets and employees in Russia without insulting the future
(updated with details)
by Gilles Guillaume
PARIS, April 12 (Reuters) – The plan to separate Renault RENA.PA’s electric activities from other powertrains aims to give them better visibility and could be accompanied by a separate stock market listing, the chief executive said on Tuesday. from the French car manufacturer.
“It could mean a separate quotation, in the conditional, that’s precisely what we are studying,” said Luca de Meo at an event organized by the Journal de l’automobile.
“Electric is another technology, another business model, so it deserves a completely dedicated scope of organization, and it will allow us to show the world that when we talk about electric cars, we are very good”, a- he added.
Pioneer of the electric vehicle with its partner Nissan
7201.T at the beginning of the previous decade, the diamond group is today dethroned by newcomers like Tesla TSLA.O , or by the ambitions of Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE in this technology driven by the fight against pollution and the global warming.
The manufacturer announced in February its intention to create two entities, an electric one based in France and one devoted to thermal and hybrid engines, based abroad, for which it is considering partnerships, perhaps with its Japanese ally.
“(The idea is to) eventually reach an agreement to find stronger synergies, either with Nissan 7201.T if he wants to jump on the bandwagon, or with someone else, or with investors from long term”, continued Luca de Meo.
The plan to separate the two activities, which raises questions in Renault’s French engineering, will be the subject of an internal progress report in July and will be presented to investors in the fall during a “capital market day”.
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The manufacturer hopes that it will help to recover a stock market price at half mast, the announcement of a suspension of its activities in Russia, its second market, after the war in Ukraine, having come to thwart the hopes born of the strategic plan “Renaulution aimed at improving the financial situation of the group.
Faced with increasing criticism of its continued presence in Russia, Renault announced at the end of March that it was suspending its activity in Moscow and considering the future of its controlling stake in the first Russian car manufacturer Avtovaz AVAZ.MM.
The group has already indicated that this decision will result in a charge of 2.3 billion euros – for Renault Groupe and RCI Banque – in the results of the first half, but Luca de Meo has left the door open on the different scenarios being studied in Russia.
“We are well equipped to try to find a long-term solution, which makes it possible to protect our assets and our employees and in fact not to completely insult the future, because life is progressing and we hope that the situation on the ground return to normality,” said Luca de Meo.
(Gilles Guillaume report, written by Nicolas Delame and Jean Terzian)