Renault Group is a shareholder and, temporarily, the only client of the French battery-cell producer Verkor, and on Monday, it severely criticized the company’s growing lack of competitiveness and the 18-month delay in starting production. Renault asks Verkor “to revise its trajectory” and ” to come with credible governance”.
“We will stay a partner of Verkor for a long time,” said Renault, holding 12% of Verkor’s shares, “but we have to take into account our role as an industrial client and our own economic constraints.”
Start in 2020
Verkor is a French start-up founded in 2020 and has built one of the three so-called gigafactories for batteries in northern France, with significant support from the French state and the EU. The factory in Dunkerque represents a €1.5 billion investment, half of which comes from public funds.
“The competitiveness gap between Verkor and other companies producing similar products in Europe has been widening in recent months, and cannot be absorbed by Renault,” the car manufacturer explains. That’s why the Group has confirmed that it won’t use Verkor battery cells in its new electric Master LCV.
Regarding earlier contracts with Verkor for the delivery of battery cells for the Alpine A390 GT, part of the Scénic portfolio, and the upcoming FlexEvan, Renault underlines that it has been obliged to source cells from the South Korean LG group, which are made in Europe. Of course, this has upped the cost.
Credible roadmap
“Verkor has to show us that it can change its trajectory,” explains Renault, and we ask from them a credible roadmap and equally convincing governance.” In a reaction, Verkor has confirmed that it will honor earlier promises and start the series production ‘in the second half of 2026’, as promised when the factory was inaugurated.
“In a very rapidly changing environment, discussions and operating adaptations are key to every industrial project, especially when one is in a ramp-up phase,” says Verkor, confirming that it is fully aware of the competitive pressure in the market. “Verkor is very actively pursuing its efforts to heighten competitiveness and bring concrete answers for the client’s objectives.”
“Competitiveness grows progressively with the industrial ramp-up, the upscaling of the volumes, and the development support for a European battery project that is independent and competitive,” concludes the battery maker.
Stellantis and ACC
The other (half) French manufacturing group, Stellantis, has met similar problems with battery manufacturer ACC, a joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes, and TotalEnergies. There also, delays accumulated, and recently the CEO was replaced by a top manager from Panasonic, asked to finally accelerate production capacity.
While the EU wants to support a European battery production network to gain industrial independence, France is negotiating with Brussels to release loans intended for this network and is asking for a supplementary €500 million for Verkor as well as ACC.
