Renault CEO Luca de Meo (l) and French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire (d) at the factory where the models of the French group’s Alpine sports brand are manufactured in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, January 28, 2022 (AFP/Sameer Al-DOUMY)
Renault will build in Dieppe from 2025 the small electric SUV of its sports brand Alpine, as part of an industrial reinvestment hailed on Friday by the Minister of the Economy as a “promise kept”.
The Renault group has made Alpine its sporting showcase, particularly in Formula 1 with the French driver Esteban Ocon: it must bring new notoriety to the brand, known only to enthusiasts outside France.
Renault, whose sales have fallen sharply in recent months, wants to accelerate its electrification and position itself in the upper segments of the car market, which are not experiencing the crisis.
“We are going to make a more upscale electric car, which will arrive here in early 2025,” said Renault CEO Luca de Meo, visiting the small factory in Dieppe (Seine-Maritime).
“It’s a mix between a mini-Ferrari and a mini-Tesla: we’re going to make very emotional electric cars,” said Luca de Meo, who had participated in his previous lives at Fiat and Volkswagen in the revival of other brands. sports cars, Abarths and Lamborghinis.
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire (d) listens to Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon (g), during a visit on January 28, 2022 to the Renault factory in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, where the group French manufacturer of vehicles for its sports brand Alpine (AFP / Sameer Al-DOUMY)
The French battery of the SUV and its engines produced in Cléon (Seine-Maritime), one hour away by truck, should allow it to achieve 0 to 100 kilometers / hour in 4 seconds.
Alongside Mr. De Meo walked “delighted” the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, who had already come to the Dieppe factory in 2017, when it was threatened. After “muscular” discussions with Renault, in which the State is a shareholder, the “Norman and car enthusiast” minister, “converted to electric”, welcomed this promise of reindustrialization, one of the priorities of the mandate Emmanuel Macron, and his upcoming campaign.
“It’s an industrial symbol (…) The high-end car industry is not reserved for Germans”, launched Bruno Le Maire while visiting the production line of “berlinettas”.
The presidential election must be an opportunity to open a debate on new measures to continue to develop industrial employment, he noted, proposing to “go further in lowering production taxes”, or to lower the employer’s contributions “above 2.5 Smic”.
– Renault’s sports bet –
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire at the wheel of a Renault vehicle, during a visit on January 28, 2022 to the Dieppe factory, in Seine-Maritime, where the French group assembles the models of its sports brand Alpine (AFP/Sameer Al-DOUMY)
The mark with the arrowed “A” had fallen into the hands of Renault in 1973, but had been put on hold in 1995. In the meantime, it produced fetish vehicles in Dieppe such as the first A110 of the name, world champion rallies in the early 1970s.
The revival of Alpine was formalized in 2017 with the presentation of the new A110 in neo-retro style. This light car has only been produced since some 10,000 units, sold from 60,000 euros, with a Nissan engine delivered from South Korea. A few copies now equip the French gendarmerie.
In addition to the new SUV, the tricolor brand must launch a sporty and electric compact by 2026, as well as a replacement for the A110. With this range, and its costly motorsport commitments, Alpine is on a mission to become profitable by 2025.
Facade of the Dieppe factory, in Seine-Maritime, where the French car manufacturer Renault assembles models of its Alpine sports brand, on January 28, 2022 (AFP / Sameer Al-DOUMY)
The factory, one of the smallest industrial units in the Renault galaxy, employs some 400 people and produces 15 cars a day. The volumes of the SUV could “multiply production by 10 or 20” in Dieppe, estimated Luca de Meo.
“The word given by Luca de Meo and the minister has been kept,” welcomed MP Sébastien Jumel (PCF) in the factory. “All this is possible thanks to the know-how of the employees.”
“We are told that we would double the workforce (…) For an employment area like Dieppe, it’s huge” declared to AFP the mayor (PCF) of the city, Nicolas Langlois, estimating at 700 the number of employees needed by 2025. “We are planning for the future.”
“Basically, that vehicles, in particular electric vehicles, are designed and produced in France, it is rather good news”, underlined the municipal councilor EELV Frédéric Weisz. “However, I would much rather see our public decision-makers invest more in decarbonized transport for the greatest number of people.”
© 2022 AFP
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