The French car manufacturer Renault has canceled the IPO of its electric car and software division Ampere. The reason for this is, among other things, the situation on the markets, Renault announced on Monday. The group will drive development forward on its own. Renault had originally aimed for a partial IPO of the business in the first half of 2024 given favorable market conditions. Many analysts were critical of the plan given the weakening demand for electric cars.
In order to quickly become profitable with the electric car and software business, Renault boss de Meo has recently set his sights on significant cost reductions of 40 percent by 2027/28. These should enable Ampere to offer electric cars ahead of the competition at the same price as combustion engines. Four cars are initially planned for 2025, then seven models in 2031.
After four years of declining sales, the French car manufacturer has recently sold more cars again. In total, the car manufacturer with the Renault, Dacia and Alpine brands sold 2.24 million vehicles in 2023, as the company announced in mid-January. That was an increase of nine percent. The flagship brand Renault, which accounts for more than two-thirds of group sales, recorded an increase of 9.4 percent. The cheap brand Dacia increased by 14.7 percent.
However, the French market leader is still a long way from its record sales of 3.88 million vehicles in 2018. Because of the war in Ukraine that broke out two years ago, the Russian market, which was important for Renault, was lost. In addition, the chip crisis slowed production. Renault boss Luca de Meo is also focusing the car manufacturer more on more profitable models and markets instead of driving sales at all costs. Nevertheless, the car manufacturer claims to have gained market share in Europe: cars and vans taken together, the main brand Renault fought its way up from fifth place to second place behind Volkswagen. Dacia is now among the ten largest car brands in Europe.