Renault has announced that it will dismantle its standalone mobility arm, Mobilize, drawing a line under its brief experiment with car-sharing and electric microcars. The French car maker needs to counter mounting financial pressures.
The French carmaker said it would wind down Mobilize, halt production of its electric quadricycles, and exit the car-sharing market altogether. The retreat underscores a decisive shift by the new CEO, François Provost, who is placing renewed emphasis on capital discipline. Clearly, he wants to step away from the experimental revenue ideas put forward by his predecessor, Luca de Meo.
Immediate effect
Production of the Duo quadricycle and its cargo version, the Bento, will cease immediately. The vehicles entered production only last April, after repeated delays pushed their launch well beyond the original timeline.
At the same time, Renault will shut down its Zity car-sharing operations in Madrid and Milan. The company acknowledged that the projects were failing to deliver acceptable returns, a candid admission that the industry’s enthusiasm for selling “mobility services” rather than cars has collided with commercial reality.
Support EV sales directly
The corporate structure built around Mobilize is also being dismantled. Mobilize Beyond Automotive will cease to exist as a standalone unit. The remaining viable activities are absorbed into Renault’s core organisation.
Fabrice Cambolive, the group’s chief growth officer, will take responsibility for energy and data services, including vehicle-to-grid technology and the Charge Pass charging network. The aim, Renault said, is to support electric-vehicle sales more directly rather than pursue energy services as a separate venture.
Charging infrastructure plans have been scaled back sharply. An earlier target of 650 fast-charging sites across Europe by 2028 has been abandoned.
Renault now plans to operate around 100 stations in France and slightly more than that in Italy by the end of 2026, while proposed rollouts in Belgium and Spain have been dropped altogether. Jérôme Faton, head of energy at Mobilize, said tighter capital constraints demanded a “more selective and disciplined” approach to investment.
A clear break
The change of direction will result in the loss of about 80 jobs from the 450 roles attached to the division. It marks a clear break with the ambitions set out by de Meo in 2020, when Mobilize was billed as a future growth engine expected to account for 20% of group revenues by 2030 through ride-hailing, recycling, and data services.
Renault’s decision follows a broader industry pullback. Other established carmakers have been retreating from their mobility ventures as costs rise and competition intensifies. BMW and Mercedes-Benz have sold their joint ride-hailing business FreeNow, while Stellantis is reportedly exploring similar options for its Free2Move unit.
With profits under heavy strain in the automotive industry, tolerance for loss-making side projects is rapidly diminishing. Provost seems keen on rolling out a back-to-basics strategy for Renault. His succeeding plan to de Meo’s Renaulution strategy will be unveiled early next year.
