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16/07/2012 

Renault launches a social business program to make mobility accessible to all

- Renault MOBILIZ, the first social business initiative in mobility from a French carmaker, was officially unveiled on July 11, 2012 by Chairman Carlos Ghosn. The program aims to restore the autonomy of people with low incomes.

- More than eight million people living under the poverty line in France are barred from fully entering society and the professional world through their inability to get around or acquire and maintain a vehicle.

- Renault MOBILIZ is based on three main components: real-life mobility service solutions; the creation of an investment company to finance mobility projects; and a partnership with the “Enterprise and Poverty” Chair at HEC Paris.

- The program is rooted in the DNA and history of Renault, which aims to make mobility accessible to all.

Sustainable mobility, a core priority in Renault’s corporate social responsibility efforts, is vital to economic development and the creation of social bonds. Mobility can enhance leisure activities but is also a means for fighting against exclusion and poverty. Lack of mobility is the fourth biggest hindrance to finding a job behind housing, health and training. This being so, the Renault group, faithful to its mobility-for-all commitment, is launching a social business program in collaboration with partners from organizations, academia and public institutions.

Renault MOBILIZ, launched initially in France, aims to:

1.1/ Support the development of new mobility platforms run by the Voiture & co organization: services will include a diagnosis of individuals’ mobility needs and a range of needs-adapted solutions, including carpooling, micro-community transport, €5-a-day car hire, and support in obtaining a driver’s permit. Since 2007, seven Voiture & co mobility platforms have helped 52% of beneficiaries to find a job again.
 
1.2/ Propose car repair prices adapted to people with low incomes at volunteer Renault garages (agents, dealerships) called “Socially Responsible Renault Garages”. The idea is to bring the service and reception quality of the Renault network to beneficiary customers as identified by the social services. This original offering is the result of joint efforts by Renault and participating Renault garages.
 
2/. Finance organizations and companies developing innovative mobility solutions for people in social and financial difficulty through the creation of an investment company called MOBILIZ Invest s.a.s. Launched with an investment budget of €5 million provided by Renault, MOBILIZ Invest s.a.s. could be opened to external investors in line with identified synergies. Based on the social business principle, aimed at maximizing social impact, any profits will be reinvested in other projects on community-minded mobility rather than being paid out as dividends.
 
3/. Foster knowledge sharing and dialog on social business projects with players from civil society, public authorities and other companies committed to this approach, with Renault becoming the third partner of the “Enterprise and Poverty” Social Business Chair at HEC Paris, alongside Danone and Schneider Electric. The partnership will also enable the Group to benefit from advice from experts in the field, including Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner for micro-credit, and Martin Hirsch, Chairman of the French Civic Service Agency and former High Commissioner of Active Solidarity.
 
Tighter bonds have been forged in the last few years between private enterprise and players in civil society such as organizations, NGOs and local authorities. For Renault, this has taken the form of collaborative efforts with organizations working in sustainable mobility, such as Voiture & co, and an academic partnership with the “Enterprise and Poverty” Social Business Chair at HEC Paris. “We have been working on this program since 2010 to share a new vision of the role of private business with all our stakeholders,” says Claire Martin, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Renault and Managing Director of MOBILIZ Invest s.a.s. “We appreciate their motivation and the hard work they are putting in to this meaningful project”.
 
Renault MOBILIZ has been set up to meet an unanswered, and yet very real, need, with a business model adapted to the purchasing power of people living under the poverty line in France. “The objective of Renault MOBILIZ,” says Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of Renault and Chairman of MOBILIZ Invest s.a.s., “is to bring people in precarious situations the resources to become autonomous and thereby help them to reintegrate the social and professional world. The program will enable Renault to strengthen its local presence and open the way to new economical and innovative mobility solutions.”
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