The end of the independence of the division created by Luca de Meo’s Renaulution, which is now brought back into the perimeter of the French group, marks a change of direction implemented by CEO François Provost to cope with a market that requires greater flexibility
With the announcement of the closure of the division Amperes the project designed by Luca de Meo for the Renaultin whose vision electric mobility should have had a decisive role. Born in 2023 in the context of the strategic plan Renaulution created by the then CEO of the French group, Ampere had the task of managing all operations relating to the hardware and software of electric cars, concentrating activities in the French district of the Douai plants (where the Renault 5, Megane and Scenic E-Tech Electric, Alpine A290, Nissan Micra and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross are produced), Maubeuge, Ruitz and Cléon (which produced more than a million electric motors and from where it will be released the Alpine A390). A highly specialized division dedicated to electrics, therefore, to which it was in a certain sense opposed Horse Powertrainthe joint venture between Renault and the Chinese Geely (which was joined at the end of 2024 by the Saudi oil giant Aramco), dedicated to the production of hybrid and combustion engines, also intended for non-European markets. Ampere, as such, was evidently no longer needed, although it will continue to live within Renault with the task of developing software and electrical architectures and, like Ampere Energy, carrying out activities relating to batteries.
more simplicity, less expense
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Why did the adventure of a totally independent Ampere end prematurely? François Provostwhich inherited the helm of the Renault group from de Meo, found itself facing a different market situation and, above all, very different development prospects for electric mobility than those of a few years ago. Faced with acceptance times by consumers in many European countries for battery-powered cars that are much longer than those assumed even in the recent past, Brussels has engaged in a – albeit partial and more superficial than substantial – reverse gear on the date of 2035previously set in stone as the end of the era for combustion engines. The watchword of all manufacturers now is flexibility: it means offering the market a plurality of technical solutions to satisfy the different needs of customers. Pure thermal, mild hybrid, full and plug-in, coexist and will coexist for a long time in European dealerships, as the Chinese manufacturers have well understood who, after thinking of flooding the Old Continent with battery models, promptly recalibrated the offer, focusing on hybrid and super-hybrid ones (plug-ins and BEVs with range extender, in which the combustion engine only acts as a generator). At this point, keeping alive a division dedicated only to electric cars made no sense for Renault: strategies and planning must be integrated as much as possible, while costs must be reduced to deal with a situation made increasingly complex also by the instability of the international geopolitical framework. Added to all this was the end of the idea of listing Ampere on the stock exchange, as de Meo intended, canceled at the beginning of 2024, perhaps due to the fear of not being able to reach the estimated valuation (8-10 billion euros).
a new strategy
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In this context, it is difficult to hypothesize exactly what Provost’s next moves will be. At the moment, the company has stated that the closure of Ampere will have no immediate impact on its 12 thousand employeesabsorbed within Renault, and on the factories of the “electrical” district. As for the product plan, which envisaged the launch of seven electric cars by 2031 (including 5, 4, Twingo and Scenic E-Tech), saw the recent integration of the agreement with Ford for the creation of two new electric city cars, produced in the Renault structures, but with the Fordusing the Ampere platform. Simplification, cost cutting and exploitation of synergies are certainly the key points of the strategy designed by the current CEO, who took office on 31 July 2025 with a four-year mandate, but these goals will also be pursued with a remodulation of the scheduled launches and a possible downsizing of purely electric traction technologies, as all Western manufacturers are doing. This could also mean a partial reconversion of the Ampere factories to an integrated production of battery-powered models and those equipped with internal combustion engines (electrified at various levels), while from Cléon, in addition to electric motors, there should also be drones for military uses, within the framework of the rearmament plan desired by the European Union. Who knows what Luca de Meo thinks of this turning point, now dealing with a completely different kind of problems in his role as director of the Kering group, which controls luxury clothing, accessories and beauty brands.
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