The oil multinational Saudi Aramco is investing in a new engine joint venture of the French carmaker Renault and the Chinese manufacturer Geely. The shares of Renault and Geely are equal in each case, Aramco will receive a minority share, the companies announced on Thursday.
Manager magazin had already reported in October last year on Aramco’s entry plans and the emerging joint venture “Horse”. The latter is one of several companies that Renault boss Luca de Meo (55) has joined French carmaker wants to dismantle
. In “Horse” de Meo wants to spin off the entire business with combustion and hybrid engines.
In an interview with manager magazin, de Meo was convinced that “Horse” would continue to generate significant sales for a long time and thus finance the switch to the electric car business. “In 2040, around 60 percent of vehicles worldwide will still be driving with combustion engines. If we combine our engine and transmission plants with those of other companies, we get nice synergies. That will work for many years to come,” said de Meo.
Aramco wants to contribute expertise on synthetic fuels
It was initially unclear on Thursday how much money Aramco invested and how large the shares of the three companies were. The collaboration with Aramco will give the new joint venture momentum in the development of economical combustion engines, the Renault boss confirmed to news agencies. Aramco will contribute its skills in particular with synthetic fuels and hydrogen. In January, Reuters reported that Aramco would have a stake of up to 20 percent in the joint venture.
The Saudi state company is the first oil multinational to go directly into the car business. Aramco was already involved last year Hyundai agreed on a collaboration involving hybrid vehicles. The third partner in the alliance, Geely, has already established an engine joint venture with Volvo. Geely boss Li Shufu (59) wants to supply those car manufacturers for whom it is no longer worth producing their own engines.
Renault wants to spin off the engine business and focus more on the development of purely battery-powered cars. Luca de Meo is planning a division called “Ampere” for that business. The alleged internal combustion engine bad bank “Horse” is said to have an annual capacity of more than five million internal combustion and hybrid engines per year.