French car manufacturer Renault has been expanding their footprint in many countries, however in ASEAN, they seem to be lagging behind the Japanese automotive brands.
With a strong push towards electrification right now in Indonesia, Thailand and also Malaysia, Renault could be seeing a surge in interest as they have a European best seller, the Zoe EV ready.
Reuters has just reported that Geely Automobile Holdings (which owns 49 percent of Malaysian car company, Proton) and an oil group are in a discussion to take over the fossil-fuel engine unit which Renault plans to separate from its electric vehicle (EV) automotive business.
But Renault’s alliance partner, Japanese carmaker Nissan, does not plan to take a stake in the combustion engine unit, the sources told Reuters.
Renault and Geely declined to comment. Nissan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The French carmaker is due to unveil this autumn plans for creating an EV-dedicated unit based in France and another one based abroad that will bring together all of its petrol and hybrid engine and transmissions production sites in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Romania and Latin America.
Renault intends to remain the majority shareholder in its “Ampère” electrical division, which will employ around 10,000 people and could list on the stock market in the second half of 2023.
But it will only retain a minority stake in its “Horse” combustion engine business, which will have a similar sized workforce, but would remain a reference shareholder with significant clout in the unit.
The two sources said Renault would hold a 40 percent stake in the fossil-fuel engine unit, while Geely would also hold 40% and an oil company the remaining 20 percent. But the plan is not finalized “and other tracks exist for partner manufacturers”, one of the sources said.
That would not include Nissan, despite a proposal from Renault that it participate in the deal, the two sources added, a further indication that the strategy of the alliance partners continues to diverge.
