About Renault
Renault has spent more than a century putting France on wheels. Louis Renault and his brothers founded the company in 1899, its taxis ferried soldiers to the Marne in 1914, and after the Second World War the nationalized firm built the 4CV, the Renault 4 and the Renault 5, small cars with big personalities that defined everyday French motoring. The brand has always had a knack for inventive packaging, from the Espace, which helped create the European minivan, to the Twingo's one-box cabin, and for selling clever ideas at sensible prices.
The modern company was shaped by its alliance with Nissan, formed in 1999 and later joined by Mitsubishi, which made Carlos Ghosn the most powerful man in the business until his 2018 arrest in Japan. The alliance has since been loosened and rebalanced. Under the Renaulution turnaround plan, Renault narrowed its focus to profitable cars, spun its electric work into a unit called Ampere and leaned on nostalgia, reviving the Renault 5, Renault 4 and Twingo as electric cars that have won praise and awards. Luca de Meo, who led the comeback, left in 2025.
Today the group runs four brands, Renault, Dacia, Alpine and the Mobilize mobility label, and sells cars from Europe to Turkey, Morocco, India, South Korea and Latin America; it has not sold cars in the United States since the 1980s. Key models include the Clio, Captur, Austral, Scenic, Renault 5 and, in emerging markets, the Duster, Kiger and Triber. Coverage tracks launches and concepts, quarterly results, the fight against Chinese rivals, Formula 1 through Alpine, recalls and the strategy of a carmaker that has made retro design its secret weapon.