French car manufacturer Renault Group intends to reintegrate its electric vehicle division Ampere into the main company. It was spun off in 2023, and a planned IPO for Ampere had already been halted some time ago. With a new CEO at the helm, François Provost, Renault is apparently reassessing the situation.
This is reported by Reuters, citing two insiders. “As there is no longer an IPO, there is no longer a need for a specific entity, which is why Renault is reintegrating everything in order to simplify and eliminate the complexity inherent in the initial model,” one of the insiders told the news agency.
Ambitious but also complex plans
For a year and a half, the Renault Group had announced its plans, and in November 2023, Renault established the independent company Ampere for electric cars and software-defined vehicles (SDVs), employing around 11,000 staff, of whom approximately 35% were engineers.
As part of this move, the e-mobility cluster ElectriCity in northern France, comprising the car factories in Douai and Maubeuge and the component plants in Ruitz and Cléon, was transferred to Ampere’s ownership.
Ampere also took over production responsibility for electric models such as the Renault 4 and Renault 5, which continued to be marketed under the Renault brand. Later, Ampere opened a new software center near Nice.
Ampere was a favorite project of former CEO Luca de Meo, who also brought the alliance partners Nissan and Mitsubishi on board and aimed to take Ampere public quickly. However, Renault postponed the IPO in January 2024 due to adverse market conditions, and it has not been rescheduled since.
In March 2025, Nissan was released from its obligation to invest €600 million in Ampere, and in May 2025, the €200 million investment agreement with Mitsubishi was also terminated.
Reviewing the strategy
After Luca de Meo’s sudden move to the luxury group Kering in the summer of 2025, Renault had to find a successor quickly. As soon as he was in charge, François Provost apparently began reviewing the strategy.
De Meo may have at least indirectly prepared this step by terminating the contracts with Nissan and Mitsubishi, because since then, it has been clear that Ampere belongs entirely to Renault anyway.
The reintegration of Ampere into the group is expected to simplify the organisation, reduce costs, and accelerate the implementation of future projects. Going forward, Ampere is set to operate as a pure development center for the group’s electric vehicles and software, while the car and component plants previously under Ampere will become direct subsidiaries of the Renault Group again.
This marks the second major decision that François Provost is likely reversing: in December, he halted Mobilize’s car-sharing business and reintegrated the previously independent unit, along with its remaining activities, back into the group.
