Biography

Celebrating more than 40 years with Renault, Gérard Detourbet began his career with the company in 1971 in the IT training centre. Two years later, in 1973, he became head of operational research at the Logistics and Production Department before moving to take charge of mechanical economic studies for the Economic Studies and Planning Department in 1976.

During the 1980s he became involved in body assembly projects, being appointed project manager for the Renault 25 body in 1980 and then departmental head of Decentralised Methods at Renault’s Sandouville plant in 1983. Two years later, in 1985, he returned to Billancourt as head of Central Methods, Assembly for the Body Assembly Department.

In the 1990s, he moved to the Powertrain Department as Project Manager, Engines (1991), becoming Powertrain Manager in 1997. For the past decade, however, Gérard Detourbet has been deeply involved in Renault’s entry vehicle programmes, notably Logan.

He was appointed Head of Industrial Development and Dacia vehicle projects before being appointed Entry Program Director in 2003. In January 2012, he was appointed Managing Director of the Renault-Nissan Alliance A-Segment Development Unit, charged with the development of a small A-segment vehicle on a platform shared with Nissan. The vehicle will be produced in India, for sale there and in other emerging markets.

Gérard Detourbet was born on 28 September 1946 in Paris.