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| [image] | |
| Type | Public |
| Founded | 1898 |
| Location | Boulogne-Billancourt, France |
| Key people | ??key_people?? |
| Industry | Automobile manufacturer |
| Products | Automobiles |
| Revenue | [image] €40.715 billion (2004) |
| Employees | 130,573 (2004) |
| Website | www.renault.com |
Renault S.A. (Euronext: RNO ) is a French Vehicle manufacturer producing small to upper-midsize cars, vans, buses and trucks.
When its cars were imported to and sold in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s, it was decided to pronounce the name as "Ren-ALT" in marketing to the American public, and the Anglicized pronunciation continues in common usage. However, Renault is properly pronounced "Rhen-oh" (as it is commonly in the UK).
The Renault reputation for innovation was fostered from very early on - in 1902 Renault launched the first production Sedan car as well as patenting the first Turbocharger. At the time, cars were very much luxury items, and the price of the smallest Renaults available being 3000 francs reflected this; an amount it would take ten years for the average worker at the time to earn. As well as cars, Renault manufactured Taxis, buses and commercial cargo vehicles in the pre-war years, and during World War I (1914 - 1918) branched out into Ammunition, military airplanes and vehicles such as the revolutionary Renault FT-17 Tank. Renault became the world's leading manufacturer of airplane engines, and the success of the company's military designs were such that Renault himself was honored by the Allies for his company's contributions to their victory. By the end of the war, Renault was the number one private manufacturer in France.
Between the two world wars, Louis Renault enlarged the scope of his company, producing agricultural and industrial machinery. However, Renault struggled to compete with the increasingly popular small, affordable "people's cars" from Volkswagen and Fiat, while problems with the stock market and the workforce also adversely affected the company's growth.
The 4CV's replacement, the Dauphine, sold extremely well as the company expanded production and sales further abroad, including Africa and North America. The car did not sell well in North America and it was outdated by the start of the 1960s. In an attempt to revive its flagging fortunes, Renault launched two cars which were to become phenonemonally successful - the Renault 4 and Renault 8 in 1961 and 1962 respectively. The 4 in particular was to continue in production until 1992. Both cars continued Renault's motor racing traditions with great success in Rallying, a tradition which was further upheld by collaborations with the Alpine company (which most famously produced the Renault-powered Alpine A110). As well as the 4 and 8, the company achieved success with the more upmarket Renault 16 launched in 1966, which continued Renault's reputation for innovation by being the world's first Hatchback larger than subcompact size as well as the first Hatchback with folding rear seats, which became and remains the universal standard Hatchback design.
The company's compact and economical Renault 5 model, launched in 1972, was another success, particularly in the wake of the 1973 energy crisis. The 5 remained in production until 1984 when it was replaced by the Super5. The formula was much the same however, and the Super5 inherited its styling lines from its father. Endangered like all of the motor industry by the energy crisis, during the mid seventies the already expansive company diversified further into other industries and continued to expand globally, including into South East Asia. The energy crisis also provoked Renault's attempt to reconquer the North American market; despite the Dauphine's success in the United States in the late 1950s, Renault had virtually disappeared from North America by the 1970s. However, in the early part of the decade, when the energy crisis-hit continent required small, economical cars, Renault began to make plans to return through a collaborative partnership with the American manufacturer AMC. This was one of a series of collaborative ventures undertaken by Renault in the late 1960s and 1970s, as the company established subsidiaries in Eastern Europe and South America (many of which remain active to the present day) and forged technological cooperation agreements with Volvo and Peugeot (for instance, for the development of the PRV V6 engine). Renault continued to increase its control over AMC, eventually owning 55% of the company by 1980. Unfortunately the American Renault-AMC partnership was not successful - the cars had so-so reliability and by the time the Renault range was ready to become established in the American market, the energy crisis was over, taking with it much of the trend for economical, compact cars. Renault sold some interesting models in the USA in the 1980's, especially the simple looking but fun Renault Alliance GTA convertible - a real automatic-top convertible with a simple but clean euro-style design with a gently sloping hood, as well as a 2.0 liter engine - big for a car of its class; and the ahead-of-its-time Renault Fuego coupe; Renault sold other models here in the 80's. Renault sold AMC to Chrysler in 1987 and the brand and its cars subsequently disappeared (though the subsidiary Jeep brand remained). [image]
In the late seventies and early eighties Renault increased its involvement in motorsport, with novel inventions such as turbochargers in their Formula One cars. The company's road car designs were revolutionary also - the Renault Espace was one of the first minivans and was to remain the most well-known minivan in Europe for at least the next two decades. The second-generation Renault 5, the European Car Of The Year-winning Renault 9, and the most luxurious Renault yet, the 25 were all released in the early 1980s, building Renault's reputation.
A revitalized Renault launched several successful new cars in the early 1990s, including the phenonemonally successful 5 replacement the Clio, the second generation Espace, the Twingo, the Laguna, and the 19. The return to success on the road was matched by a return to success on the racetrack - Renault-powered cars won the Formula One World Championship in 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1997 with Williams and in 1995 with Benetton.
In the twenty-first century, Renault was to foster a reputation for distinctive, outlandish design. The second generation of the Laguna and Megane featured ambitious, angular designs which turned out to be highly successful. Less successful were the company's more upmarket models. The Avantime, a bizarre coupe/minivan hybrid, sold very poorly and was quickly discontinued while the luxury Vel Satis model did not sell as well as hoped. As well as its distinctive styling, Renault was to become known for its car safety - it is currently the car manufacturer with the largest number of models achieving the maximum 5 star rating in EuroNCAP crash tests. The Laguna was the first car to achieve a 5 star rating and in 2004 the Modus was the first small car to achieve this rating.
Renault has a stake of 44.4 per cent in Japanese automaker Nissan together with which they form the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Nissan in turn took a 15 per cent stake in Renault in 2002. Renault also owns Samsung Motors (Renault Samsung Motors) and Dacia, as well as retaining a minority stake in Volvo Trucks.
In 2004, Renault was the fifth most popular car maker in Britain behind the Ford Motor Company, Vauxhall Motors, Peugeot and Volkswagen. The most popular French car in Britain is currently the Renault Clio, which has been a strong seller throughout Europe since its launch 14 years ago.
For 2004 Renault reported a 43% rise in net income to €3.5 billion and 5.9% operating margin, of which Nissan contributed €1,767 million. The Group (Renault, Dacia, Renault Samsung Motors) posted a 4.2% increase in worldwide sales to a record 2,489,401 vehicles, representing a global market share of 4.1%. Renault retained it's position as the leading brand in Europe with 1.8 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles sold and market share of 10.8%.
Renault, together with associated brands Dacia and Renault Samsung, aims to sell 4 million vehicles worldwide in 2010.
Motorsport has long been recognised as an effective marketing tool for automobile manufacturers. In the late seventies and early eighties, Renault began to involve itself more heavily in motorsport, setting up a dedicated motorsport division called Renault Sport, and winning the Le Mans 24 Hours (once again in collaboration with Alpine) while achieving success in both rallying (with the Renault 5 Turbo) and Formula One. Initially, Renault's entry into Formula One in 1977 was ridiculed when the team's first design included such curiosities as a Turbocharger. However, the team were to win their first race on home soil in Dijon a mere two years later and by the early eighties, every front-running Formula One team used turbochargers.
Renault also took over the Benetton F1 team in 2001, and quickly became very competitive, Fernando Alonso winning Renault's first race in its second incarnation at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. 2004 saw the Renault team finish a close third in the Constructors' Championsip and in 2005 the team won both Constructors' and Drivers' titles (with Fernando Alonso).
Questions have been raised regarding Renault's commitment to its Formula One team, particularly with the appointment of Carlos Ghosn as CEO. However at the 2005 French Grand Prix Ghosn set out his policy regarding the company's involvement in motorsport:
In 2004, French Typeface Designer Jean-François Porchez was commissioned to design a replacement. This was shown in October of that year and is called Renault Identité''.
| [image] | Renault () |
| Recent: | Avantime Clio Espace Kangoo Laguna Logan Mégane Modus Safrane Scénic Twingo Vel Satis Spider |
| Non-numeric: | Alliance/Encore Fuego Medallion Premier Torino |
| Numeric: | 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 25 30 |
| Post-WWII: | 4CV Caravelle Colorale Dauphine Dauphinoise Floride Frégate Ondine |
| Between wars: | Celtaquatre Juvaquatre Nervastella Primaquatre Reinastella Viva Grand Sport Vivaquatre Vivasix |
| Pre-WWI: | 10CV 12CV 35CV 40CV A AG/AG-1 B C D E L/M N(a)/N(b)/S N(c)/Q/U(a/e) R/T U AS/V X/X-1 Y |
| Alpine–Renault: | A106 A108 A110 A305 A310 A610/GTA |
| Concept vehicles: | Argos BRV Espace F1 EPURE EVE Etoile Filante Fiftie Fluence Initiale Koléos Laguna Mégane Next Racoon Scénic Talisman VESTA 2 Wind |
| Vans and trucks: | Estafette Fourgonette Kangoo Express Kerax Magnum Mascott Master Midlum Trafic |