Compete, but without entering China. That is one of the main ideas that emerges from the new strategic plan that the Renault automobile group presented this Tuesday until 2030, named futuReady. In it, although the company does not give the investment figures or the objectives that it has set for business growth – except that it foresees an operating margin of between 5% and 7% with respect to billing and a free cash flow equal to or greater than 1,500 million euros per year on average -, it does outline what it thinks for the next five years, in which it will launch 36 new models, the majority in Europe, and 14 of them only for international markets. Less than half, specifically 16, will be electric, at the rate of .
“Since my appointment as CEO last July, we have worked with all teams globally to build a plan that allows the group to operate in a sustainable and solid way, regardless of the challenges that lie ahead. Nine months later, I am very proud of what we have built together and constitutes our vision futuREady“, said the CEO of Renault, François Provost, making it clear that this plan is different from the one he had been preparing, which was called Futurama.
Among the objectives that Renault has set is that of markets such as South Korea, Latin America and India, places where Renault already has an industrial presence. The recent signing of free trade agreements with Europe will also help in these last two. Fabrice Cambolive, group growth director and top boss of the Renault brand, has highlighted that “the heart” of the international growth strategy will be in India, a country in which he sees a lot of potential. Where the automobile industry will not go is to the United States, Canada and China. The latter, precisely, because it is a hypercompetitive market where the European brands already present, especially German, are losing market share to local firms.
The company promises, in turn, “operational excellence” with three lines of action: the use of 350 humanoid robots for “hard work or jobs with lower added value” and the use of 30% fewer parts per car; the use of artificial intelligence to cut production interruptions in half and reduce energy consumption by 25%, in addition to relying on AI to control each step of manufacturing; and improve, in turn, the control of the entire supply chain to reduce logistics costs by 30%. “This operational rigor” will allow Renault to reduce the variable cost of cars by 400 euros per year and reduce the initial investment in new projects by 40%.
On the other hand, Renault has presented a new electric vehicle platform, called RGEV Medium 2.0, for cars ranging from the B+ segment (the size of a Clio, for example) to the D (an Espace). However, the focus will be on the electric C segment, which is what the Palencia factory aspires to do, last month, when it noted that Palencia is a “probable and logical” option for a vehicle of this type. The company is waiting for it to be completed before supplying electricity to Spain, an issue on which positions are still far apart, according to different sources in the sector. Provost went further in this Tuesday’s press conference by stating that Spain is a country that has “impressed” him in terms of costs and competitiveness, and that the group is “preparing to bring the platform to Palencia.” “We need an agreement as soon as possible.” [con los sindicatos] to move quickly,” he added.
This platform, which will be developed mainly in France, will be equipped with an 800-volt electrical architecture and a fast charge of up to ten minutes. It will offer ranges of up to 750 kilometers for pure electric vehicles and up to 1,400 for the so-called Range Extender EV —a kind of plug-in hybrid—, which promises emissions of 25 grams of CO2 per kilometer, well below the objective set by the EU in terms of pollution for that year. In addition, the new platform, which will reduce the cost of new electric vehicles by 40% compared to the current generation, will allow the cars that come out of it to receive updates remotely, like mobile phones.
Of the new passenger models that the group will launch, 26 will belong to the Renault brand, 14 of them internationally (plus five vans) and 12 for Europe. In 2030, the firm that gives its name to the company intends to market more than two million vehicles annually (compared to the 1,628 million registered in 2025), half of them outside the Old Continent. Dacia, for its part, will accelerate its conversion to electric, going from offering one to four vehicles of this type in its range; while Alpine will continue with its growth strategy, with launches such as the renewal of its A110.
As for Nissan, its partner in the alliance, which is going through a particularly delicate moment and which even weighed down the French company’s own financial results with billion-dollar losses, Provost has stated that it will continue to be a “strategic” partner, for which it will make nine vehicles, six of them in Europe (two passenger cars and four vans) and another three passenger cars in India. Looking to 2030, the company aims to make more than 300,000 cars per year for other manufacturers such as Nissan, Mitsubishi or Ford, for which it will make two electric passenger cars in France.
