In a recent statement, Luca de Meo, the current CEO of Renault, said he plans to switch the brand’s entire catalog to electric, before 2030. After having been a pioneer in France with the Zoé, then groped for several years, the diamond brand tries to restart.
Renault is lagging behind
Indeed, 10 years ago Renault was a pioneer in electricity in France. However, today the French manufacturer seems to have been completely outdistanced by its competitors. According to Luca de Meo, despite the fact that many projects were ahead of their time at Renault, “there were hesitations, particularly in the face of the mass of investments to be made and the lack of immediate demand”.
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In 2013, Renault arrived on the electric market at the same time as Tesla. Since then, the brand’s electrical catalog has been hollow. This summer, the CEO of Renault had already announced that it wanted to reach the threshold of 90% electric vehicles by 2030. Today and under the pressure of new measures from the European Union, the French manufacturer is reviewing its plans and announces a catalog with 100% electric cars.
In 2022, Renault’s electric hopes rest on the Mégane which will arrive on the roads in the next few days. Luca de Meo specifies that “Dacia will follow this same dynamic and its electrification will be consistent with a positioning that requires us not to increase prices”.
A transition to electric too fast?
Despite this desire to offer a 100% electric catalog before 2030, Renault has not yet offered anything else… If not an electric R5 scheduled for 2024, as well as an electric 4L in stride. To achieve its objective, Renault will have to review its strategy and above all double down on the electric.
Most major manufacturers already offer a full range of electric vehicles. It is for example the case of Volkswagen which dominated sales in the third quarter of 2021 in Europe with 58,000 electric vehicles sold, compared to just under 34,000 for Tesla and 28,000 for the Stellantis group.
Above all, Renault does not want to leave too much room for Stellantis, its main rival in France and more generally in Europe. The mandatory switch to the electric car is an increasingly close deadline. In Europe, the European Commission proposed this summer the ban on heat engines in 2035…
The acceleration of this transition could be fatal to some builders. A process ” counter productive “ according to Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis. He warns : “we are pushing the industry to its limits”.