It’s no secret that the Alliance of Renault with its two Japanese partners, Nissan and Mitsubishi, has been under pressure in recent years. At the same time, collaborations with the Chinese car manufacturing group Geely have multiplied. Is Renault steadily preferring Geely over its Japanese partners?
Renault started collaborating with Geely in 2021. First in South Korea, where it helped Renault fill up the capacity of its Busan factory, which it had run with Samsung. At that time, Horse was also created, the Renault division that keeps developing internal combustion engines, in which Geely took a vital stake. Lately, both companies have also joined forces to get a bigger slice of the South American market.
A modified Alliance
Nissan’s difficult financial position also weighs on Renault. With the decision to rebalance the Alliance and have equal shares (each around 15%), Renault still owns 35% of Nissan for the moment. 17.05% directly, the other half in a trust.
Given Nissan’s poor results in its latest financial year (2024-2025), it reported a €4.1 billion loss in March of this year, which also had an adverse effect of €2 billion on the Renault Group’s finances.
It has prompted both partners to work together on more specific collaborations rather than tying themselves into a more comprehensive partnership. The most significant act of cooperation decided fairly recently is the opening of the Renault Electricity factories to Nissan and Mitsubishi products.
Nissan’s new electric Micra will be produced in Douai (Northern France), Mitsubishi will assemble an SUV there, and in Novo Mesto (Slovenia), the twin brother of the Renault Twingo, maybe called Nissan Pico, will also come from the line.
But these aren’t cooperations only reserved for Alliance members. Recently, Ford announced that it will use a Renault platform for some of its future EV models sold in Europe. Renault also had high hopes for further collaboration in South America and India.
Still, the new Nissan boss, Ivan Espinosa, has outlined the key areas of Nissan’s latest restructuring plan. South America is not part of it, and India is no longer considered strategically important. Nissan has even sold Renault its 51% stake in the shared Chennai factory, which has a potential capacity of 400,000 cars per year but currently produces only 130,000.
Ambitious partnerships
The Renault Group, which sells more than 70% of its production in Europe, wants to spread its wings and sell more cars in other continents. For that, it can use ambitious, financially strong partners, and Chinese Geely seems the one most eager to step into new partnerships.
Renault’s new boss, François Provost, is counting on these new partnerships to broaden Renault’s global influence. His predecessor, Luca de Meo, still remembers the start of the Geely connection: “It all started in South Korea, where our Busan factory was in dire need of cars to fill up production capacity; Geely did it.”
Finally, Geely now holds 34% of Renault’s Korean subsidiary, while Renault retains 53% following a capital increase. In Busan, the Polestar 4 is now being produced alongside the Renault Grand Koleos, a large SUV sold primarily in other global markets. In a few weeks, Renault also wants to introduce a new vehicle for the Korean market.
Recently, the mutual aid has moved in the opposite direction: Geely sought an introduction into the South American market, and in November, it confirmed taking a 26.4% stake in Renault do Brasil, valued at €600 million.
It gives Geely access to the commercial distribution chain in the largest South American market and to the Curitiba factory. The electric SUV Geely EX5 will be sold in Brazil through Renault dealerships, which will have dedicated selling points for the Chinese brand.
The latest news: according to Chinese media, Renault is entering a new stage of collaboration with Geely, with its Shanghai R&D team exploring the use of the Chinese carmaker’s new GEA platform to develop new EVs and PHEVs for ’emerging overseas markets’. That’s merely South Korea, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and North Africa.
The news wasn’t officially confirmed yet, but the Chinese media say, “We know exclusively that Renault has started to develop new energy vehicles (NEVs) based on Geely’s GEA platform, which will include pure electric and plug-in hybrids.”
