Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco soon in the capital of Renault? More specifically a heat engine and hybrid entity, one with electrical activities, which should see the light of day with the management plan to split the group? That’s what our colleagues from Le Monde pointed out on Thursday, saying Aramco could operate “beyond oil and synthetic fuels.” According to Reuters, this thermal engine entity could also include the Chinese car manufacturer Geely Automobile Holdings, the Swedish owner of Volvo, which entered the capital of the South Korean company Renault in May with a 34% share.
“Horse” and “amp”
This “thermal” entity is called “the horse” and is intended to supply the entire automotive industry. “Electrical” activity responds to the name “amp”. If the government shareholder will be a “reference” but a minority shareholder in the historical activity, it will on the other hand control the “Ampère” entity, which will oversee the production of electric drive cars, which is promised to develop strongly in Europe, with Brussels’ decision to ban the sale of new thermal cars from year 2035.
CGT condemns dismantling
CGT immediately rose to the plate, denouncing Renault’s “dismantling” and calling on the state, a 15% shareholder in Renault.
“This strategy is disastrous, both in terms of research and development and industrially, not only for Renault but also for the entire car industry in France,” warned CGT on Thursday.
The union “opposes the dissolution of the company. The Renault group must remain a cohesive company that owns all the trades of the car manufacturer, whether thermal, hybrid or electric. The CGT thus called on the government to “put an end to the abandonment of its industry, opposing any loss of autonomy and autonomy of the manufacturer”.
In contact with AFP, Renault’s management did not want to speak on Thursday. Managing Director Luca de Meo said in May that this file for separating its thermal and electrical activities, “in order to enhance efficiency and operational performance”, is going “extremely well”.
In detail, the project aims to house the Cléon plant and the Electric Industrial Campus (in Hauts-de-France) in the “Ampère” entity, which will respectively produce electric motors and electric cars. This architecture will also integrate the group’s software segment (Renault Software Lab), a segment considered strategic in the new automotive value chain of the future. It will be headquartered in France and will employ 10,000 employees among the 120,000 who make up the group. As a reminder, Renault aims to have 100% of its sales in Europe run on pure electricity by 2030.
The other subsidiary, Horse, will also have 10,000 employees but will be based overseas. This is the stabilization of all mechanical activities that make up the traction chain (powertrain in terminology). For Luca de Meo, Managing Director of Renault, this subsidiary has the ambition to become a world champion in surfing “powertrain” on heat engine hybrids in particular. The mechanical plants that will be incorporated into this new structure will manufacture the engines and gearboxes and are, for the most part, based today abroad.
IPO of the subsidiary electricity company
Renault confirmed in the spring that the group would retain control of these two chassis. However, the “electric” entity could be listed on the stock market in the second half of 2023 in order to make the most of the market appetite for “pure players” in the electric vehicle. The subsidiary company dedicated to the traction chain is not intended to be made available to the public.
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