Blog of RENAULT NISSAN Alliance

The Renault-Nissan Alliance team caught up with CEO Carlos Ghosn during a break in his hectic schedule at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. We began by asking him about one of the hottest topics in the auto industry these days – the tie up between GM and Peugeot. Watch the video interview here.

Renault’s distinctive Twizy – the electric tandem with its one-of-a-kind styling – is clearly in tune with its potential audience.

At the Geneva Motor Show, Renault announced a partnership with Cathy and David Guetta, one of Europe’s hottest music making couples. Double Grammy Award winner David, along with his artistic director and club organiser wife Cathy, are to become Renault Twizy Ambassadors and will play a leading role in the launch of the car this spring.

Renault ZOE is undoubtedly one of the most significant cars at this year’s Geneva Motor Show. The reason? It brings electric vehicles closer to the mass market by being seriously affordable.

The compact hatchback, purpose designed from the ground up as an electric vehicle, is being shown at Geneva in its final production form prior to sales starting in the autumn. In France, prices will start at just €15,700.

As well as being truly innovative, it’s also one of the most usable EVs yet created, with a range of 210km (NEDC)… the first mass-market EV capable of such a distance between charges.

Perhaps it’s something to do with wanting to preserve the clean mountain air, but the Geneva Motor Show was the first international auto show to open a dedicated ‘Green Pavilion’ where manufacturers could showcase alternative and eco technologies.

For the 2012 Salon, Geneva’s Green Pavilion is bigger than ever… and that’s thanks in part to the ever-increasing range of pure electric vehicles from the Alliance. Visitors can take test drives on a special circuit in Nissan LEAF, the car that really kicked off the EV revolution, as well as in three EVs from Renault – Fluence Z.E., Twizy and Kangoo Z.E.

But proving that green technology is now mainstream, there’s even more EV news from the Alliance inside the main Salon halls. Star of the Renault stand is the now production-ready ZOE, a compact hatchback that promises to bring electric vehicles to a much wider audience thanks to its highly affordable price tag.

His Majesty King Mohammed VI today inaugurated the new Renault-Nissan Alliance plant in Tangier, Morocco, at a special ceremony attended by Carlos Ghosn, Chairman of Renault and Nissan.

• The new Renault-Nissan plant in Tangier represents an investment of €1 billion.
• The new plant’s annual production capacity of 400,000 vehicles will play a part in ensuring the continued success of the Entry range across the world.
• The Tangier factory is the world's first zero carbon and zero effluent automotive plant.
• It is the southern Mediterranean basin's biggest automotive plant, with an estimated total staff of more than 6,000 by 2015.

Renault's presence in Morocco dates back more than 80 years. Today, its geographical location is situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea at the heart of the Tangier Med Port area which benefits not only from an extensive network of competitive suppliers, but also from a pool of highly qualified staff with trained to modern automotive production techniques.

India is a key pillar of the Alliance’s strategic focus on new growth markets. In March 2010, the Alliance inaugurated the Chennai plant, the first dedicated Alliance plant in the world with annual capacity of 200,000 units. The new Nissan Micra, a sub-compact model, was the first vehicle to be produced at the plant. The model is sold in India and also exported to more than 100 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Today the plant also assembles Nissan Sunny sedans alongside Renault’s Fluence, Koleos and Pulse nameplates.

This March, a second line will open at the plant boosting its capacity to 400,000 units a year and putting the Alliance on track for a 10% market share in the world’s second-most populous nation by 2016.

Watch this video for more.

Sub-zero temperatures, piping hot chocolate, world leaders, entrepreneurs, issues, solutions… and electric vehicles. That, in a nutshell, sums up the week spent by the Renault-Nissan Alliance team in Davos, Switzerland, during the 2012 World Economic Forum.
 
Watch our video to see a recap of what we got up to, meet a few of our visitors and hear from the Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn and Renault's COO Carlos Tavares amongst others. Also, see the Nissan LEAF and the Renault Fluence Z.E. in action.
 

• Despite financial uncertainty and natural disasters, global sales increased 10 percent and exceeded 8 million units for the first time.
• Strongest growth came from emerging markets and the United States.

PARIS(Feb. 1, 2012) — The Renault-Nissan Alliance sold a record 8,029,222 units in 2011, a 10.3% increase from 2010, fuelled by robust sales in emerging markets and the United States.

Sales rose for the third consecutive year. Renault sold 2,722,062 units worldwide, up 3.6% from 2010. Nissan sold 4,669,981 units, up 14.4%. AvtoVAZ Lada accounted for 637,179 units, a 10.9 % increase compared to the previous year.

Yokohama - Jan. 30 - Sustainable mobility takes to the open water, as Nissan launches its first energy-efficient, coastal car carrier, the Nichioh Maru. 

The maker of the first mass-marketed, 100% electric vehicle – the Nissan LEAF – now employs an eco vessel nicknamed “Roro” – for roll-on and roll-off pick-ups and deliveries.

At one-and-a-half football fields in length, the carrier took four years to complete and began its maiden voyage January 27.
 

Renault’s Chief Operating Office, Carlos Tavares, has found plenty of good news at the 2012 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He tells us that although he knew the Davos Forum would be a great place for brainstorming and for debate, he was pleasantly surprised that the atmosphere was not as gloomy as he thought it would be. “Beyond what we hear in the media, I found people here who have significant hope, we will find solutions for the problems we are facing”, he said.

See what he has to say...