Renault details future brand vision

RENAULT has detailed its ‘Renaultution’ future brand strategy at an online event held in its native France, with the car-maker to create a far more sustainable future with an emphasis on green technologies.

The brand has given its new vision the name ‘Nouvelle Vague’, with a plan to make Renault an industry leader in the electrified space, saying it wants to be “the greenest brand in Europe” by 2030.

To achieve that goal, Renault is targeting 90 per cent of all new-car sales to be electrified by 2030, which will be enabled by a product offensive in the coming years.

For reference, 25 per cent of Renault sales in Europe are currently electrified.

A raft of hybrid and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models will be released in the near future, with the compact SUV segment being targeted in particular.

Next year, the brand will introduce an all-new hybrid powerplant centred around a 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine and electric motor, with a combined output of 200hp (149kW).

In 2024 the same powertrain will be used as the basis for a PHEV version that will score all-wheel drive and boost power to 209kW.

The brand has already begun its hybrid expansion with the global release last year of the Clio hybrid light hatch, along with the Captur and Megane PHEVs.

Its rollout has continued so far this year with the release of the Arkana and Captur hybrid, as well has the Megane Sedan PHEV, however the electrified versions are yet to land on Australian shores.

Urban mobility will also be a key aspect of the Renaulution plan, with Renault to bring together over 2000 engineers from five “industry-leading” companies to work across areas such as cyber security, artificial intelligence, data processing, software and microelectronics to help produce future mobility solutions for communities and cities.

Recycling and up-cycling of cars will also be a focus, with the brand’s new ‘re-factory’ capable of recycling or up-cycling up to 120,000 vehicles per year including EVs, with nearly 80 per cent of strategic recycled materials to be reused in new batteries.

By 2030, the brand plans to be the world’s leading car brand when considering the percentage of recycled materials in new vehicles.

The brand also has plans to further move into the C and D vehicle segments, with seven new models to be released in those spaces by 2025.

It also confirmed a fully electric Megane will be released “in the very near future”.

The brand also took the opportunity to show off its new logo, which Renault said was designed to portray the brand as more relatable while being built on people-centric values.

Its open-ended shape is also designed to reflect the brand’s transparency, and will be phased out onto new models gradually, with all new vehicles to bear the logo by 2024.

Closer to home, Renault Australia announced earlier in the year it would be ending its factory-backed operation and would move to a distributorship model under Ateco Automotive.

To the end of April, Renault has sold a combined 1587 vehicles Down Under, marking a modest 8.2 per cent improvement over the same period last year.