The first machines are in test operation, 30 positions are currently advertised, and series production is scheduled to start in March at AESC’s battery factory in Douai, northern France. The Japanese company, majority owned by the Chinese Envision Group, wants to produce electrodes, cells and modules here in the future to equip 180,000 to 200,000 electric cars annually. It is investing around 1.3 billion euros for this. A third of the sum comes via loans from the European Investment Bank. The new factory that AESC took journalists through this week is not in no man’s land, but in the immediate vicinity of one of the largest plants of the French car manufacturer Renault. If everything goes according to plan, in addition to the R5 that has just come onto the market, the R4 and A290 models from the Alpine sports car brand, which are expected to be released soon, will also be powered by batteries made in France. AESC, in turn, is hoping to land orders from other car manufacturers. The current production lines are fully utilized to supply the three Renault models. But there is more than enough space for expansion here in Douai, the company says. That’s why they’re staying the course. For Renault, the AESC factory is a key component of its electrical strategy. Regardless of the recent capers on the car market, CEO Luca De Meo continues to move full throttle towards electrification. Others are slowing down, Renault is accelerating, was the message he brought to the people this week on the first anniversary of the founding of the company’s own software and electrical division, Ampere. The model offensive is continuing. Even if Volkswagen – to the regret of the French – has called off the discussed collaboration on an affordable, fully electric small car, the new Twingo will come onto the market as planned in 2026 for less than 20,000 euros. Just two years later, one could expect the next “technological leap” with cobalt-free batteries. When it comes to cost reductions, words are being followed by actions and are on schedule, explained De Meo. The Italian, who took over the management of Renault after the near-bankruptcy in the corona pandemic and then completely restructured the group, campaigned for a focus on “the big picture.” Of course, “everything is not fine” in the European car industry and there are “obviously major challenges,” said De Meo, who, as president of the manufacturers’ association ACEA, is at the forefront of fighting for the softening of the CO2 fleet limits, which Renault will also tear down next year threatens. Nevertheless, the fact remains that “in the long term, electric vehicles are the future or at least make up a very large part of the future”. That’s why Renault is staying the course. In less than two years, the “largest and most competitive production center for electric vehicles in Europe,” which De Meo loudly announced, is taking shape. Dubbed “Electricity”, it includes not only Douai but also the northern French locations of Maubiege and Ruitz. Renault expects a lot of synergies and is promoting electric car production made in France with short distances: including locations such as the group’s own engine factory in Cléon, around 75 percent of all suppliers are within a radius of just 300 kilometers. On this electric route with partners from the Far East For the Renault boss, cooperating like AESC is more the rule than the exception. Just as the Europeans imitated Henry Ford’s revolutionary assembly line production a little more than 100 years ago, we must learn from China today, De Meo once again made clear. Renault is now doing exactly that with the new Twingo: the group has sent around 150 employees to the province north of Shanghai for partial development. Together with the Chinese, they want to make the ambitious goal a reality of producing a new car in less than two years instead of four develop. The collaboration is going very well, report Renault engineers. The pace and work ethic of the Chinese are overwhelming, and six-day weeks with working hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. are not uncommon. Still a long way off “They have the best development team, the competitiveness and the technology,” says Philippe Brunet, who heads the vehicle technology division at Ampere is responsible. The Frenchman is one of the approximately 11,000 Renault employees that De Meo transferred to the new division, for which a separate IPO was planned if there was sufficient investor interest. The plans were buried at the beginning of this year, but Ampere continues to exist and has some autonomy the structures of the traditional group. To the outside world, the communications department presents the division as a “start-up” within the Renault tanker, with De Meo, as head of the division, having the final say. More on the subject of agility, specialization and new partnerships instead of mass and scaling – this is De Meo’s motto Almost two years ago, we initiated a profound restructuring of the company. This also includes software collaborations with the US companies Google and Qualcomm as well as the transfer of the production of combustion and hybrid engines to a joint venture with Geely from China. Renault is currently in a solid financial position. In contrast to most competitors, the French have not recently revised their margin target. However, Renault, with a share of 11.6 percent, was still a long way from achieving its goal of soon being fully electric in Europe.
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