Renault and the Chinese group Geely invest in combustion engines
One of the most important automakers, the Chinese group Geely joins forces with the French brand Renault with the aim of creating a new company dedicated to the production of powertrains. The agreement will allow the subsidiary called ” Horse ” to create, manufacture and supply hybrid powertrains and conventional thermal powertrains.
5 million combustion engines
“Horse” will allow Renault and Geely to hire more than 19,000 people worldwide and will set up 17 manufacturing plants in 3 different countries. According to the new group’s first estimates, more than 5 million combustion engines, powertrains, hybrids and plug-in hybrids will be produced annually. The company will distribute their production in more than 130 countries representing up to 80% of the world market for internal combustion engines.
The subsidiary wants to continue producing combustion engines. Knowing that the European Union and several countries, including Canada, have taken the decision to ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, this announcement goes against the current automotive trend aimed at producing zero emission vehicle.
An association that will have an impact in Canada
Having both 50% of the shares of the company, the first customers of this association will be car manufacturers belonging to the Geely group and the Renault, Mitsubishi and Nissan Alliance. It is therefore Renault, Dacia, Geely Auto, Volvo Cars, Lynk & Co, Proton, as well as Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors which will be the first manufacturers to integrate the new powertrains into their catalog.
The objective, however, is not only to supply the companies belonging to the shareholders of “Horse”, but to offer the entire automotive market new propulsion technologies. The ambitious production figures confirm that we will find several new combustion engines from this new brand on the Canadian market.
As the Geely Group is one of Volvo’s main shareholders, the new hybrid and plug-in hybrid technologies will likely be used in models sold in Canada following the manufacturer’s announcement to integrate, at a minimum, mild hybridization systems. to the whole range.
A strategic and contradictory announcement
The new agreement was announced as the Renault group explained its intention to list its brand new subsidiary called “Ampere” on the Paris stock exchange by the first half of 2023. This entity will produce the brand’s electric vehicles and should supply more than one million electric Renault vehicles by 2031.
A question still remains unanswered to know what place will occupy Nissan in this new energy transition of the French group. Being a shareholder with more than 30% of the Japanese brand, Renault should make an announcement in the coming weeks to reveal a reduction in the group’s financial involvement in the manufacturer Nissan.
