Renault
Renault S.A, founded in 1898 by Louis Renault (1877-1944), is a traditional French automobile maker.
1956 Renault 4cv
| Table of contents |
|
2 Current situation 3 History 4 Models 5 External link |
History
Louis Renault was a pioneer of the automobile industry and introduced Taylorism in France.
His taxicabs were a success. During WWI, Renault manufactured ammunition, military airplanes and vehicles such as the Renault FT-17 tank.
Between the two world wars, Louis Renault enlarged the scope of his company, producing agricultural and industrial machinery.
During WWII, Louis Renault's factories worked for Nazi Germany. He was for this reason arrested during the liberation of France in 1944 and died in prison before having prepared his defense. His industrial assets were seized by the government, and the Renault factories were therefore a public industry (known as the RÃÂégie Renault).
In 1996, the company was partially privatized.
Renault has been renkown for innovative car concepts like the Renault 16 or the one-box concepts of Renault Twingo, Renault ScÃÂénic and Renault Espace, which latter model was the first MPV.
Currently Renault ist the car manufacturer with the most highest scores in Euro NCAP crashtests.
Current situation
The government of France owns 44% of the company. Renault has a substantial stake of 44,4% in Japanese automaker Nissan together with which they form the Alliance. Further stakes are in Samsung Motors (Renault Samsung Motors), Volvo Trucks and Dacia.
Renault manufactures small to upper-midsize cars.
Louis Schweitzer is the Chairman and CEO of Renault since 1992.
History
On April 9, 1986 the government of France ruled against the privatization of Renault.
From 1979 to 1987, Renault held majority ownership in the American Motors Corporation (AMC), which it sold to Chrysler Corporation in March, 1987.
on January 2, 2001, Renault sold its industrial vehicle subdivision (Renault VÃÂéhicules Industriels) to Volvo, which renamed it Renault Trucks in 2002.
Models
See also:
External link