It was understood that between Renault and the Chinese Geely there was something more than an agreement for operations in Korea it was understood at the Paris auto show last October, when the CEO of the French group, Luca de Meo, he had answered a direct question from Il Sole 24 Ore if there was a far-reaching agreement at stake with the group he led.
Today 8 November on the occasion of the Capital Market Day of the Regie (during which the medium-term financial objectives are communicated), Geely, which also controls Volvo, Polestar and Lotus and is engaged in Daimler (9.7%), and the Group Renault have signed a non-binding framework agreement that aims to create a new world leader to develop, manufacture and supply the best energy-efficient thermal and hybrid powertrains.
With this framework agreement, Geely and Groupe Renault will respectively hold 50% of the shares in the new company. The new company will be an independent global supplier, capable of producing next-generation hybrid powertrains and developing decarbonised and low-emission technologies in five global R&D centers. At launch, the new company will have to supply several industrial customers, including Renault, Dacia, Geely Auto, Volvo Cars, Lynk & Co (which is also from Geely and offers subscription Volvo clones), Proton, as well as the other two components. of the twenty-year Franco-Japanese Alliance. Nissan and Mitsubishi.
The partnership could later supply powertrains to other manufacturers as well. The new company is expected to manage 17 powerplant mechanical plants on 3 continents, with a total of around 19,000 employees. It will have a combined capacity of more than 5 million transmissions and internal combustion engines per year, hybrids and plug-in hybrids, to serve over 130 countries and regions. The combined product portfolio of Geely and the Renault Group and the geographic footprint of the new company could offer solutions to 80% of the world market for internal combustion engines (ICE).
The agreement, which does not envisage the development of cars but only that relating to powertrains, is part of the Ampere operation, or the creation of the electric vehicle division that the French car manufacturer Renault has recently announced and plans to list its unit of sul stock market already in the second half of 2023. Ampere should be listed on Euronext Paris.