Automobile: should reindustrialization in France go through electricity?

Lionel Gougelot, edited by Gauthier Delomez 07:34, February 23, 2022

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The challenge of electricity to achieve reindustrialization.

The Renault group will invest 10 billion euros over the next five years to launch ten new electric models in all ranges.

By 2030, the French manufacturer intends to market 90% of electric cars.

For this, Renault has formed an alliance with battery manufacturers, but also plans to build its own factory on its site in Douai, in the North.

A change that should make it possible to perpetuate its historic sites and guarantee employment.

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"An opportunity" to continue producing cars in France

It is in the North that the "electric revolution" is underway for Renault.

Its batteries, assembled in a new workshop at the Douai plant, equip the electric Mégane model, which is due to arrive on the car market soon.

This is the first stage of the "Electricity" project, which brings together the three sites of the French manufacturer and soon an integrated battery factory.

The battery assembly workshop in the Douai plant.

A vital change for the manufacturer according to Luciano Biondo, boss of the electrical pole.

"Today there is an opportunity to reindustrialize the automobile in France, that's what we wanted to do through Renault-Electricity," he says at the microphone of Europe 1. "It's is an opportunity to still be there in ten or 20 years, making cars in France", explains the boss of the group's electrical division.

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Make the North the "Silicon Valley" of the electric car

With the future Nissan and the electric R5 in anticipation, the Renault group has a great appetite.

"In 2021 we produced, between Douai and Maubeuge, 125,000 cars. In 2025, we have an ambition to produce more than 500,000", continues Luciano Biondo, who continues: "This shows our desire to consolidate the industrial tool in France and in Hauts-de-France."

The objective is to install the "Silicon Valley" of the electric car in the North.

This makes David Dubois, CGT delegate in Douai, smile.

"What matters to us is that everyone has a job. After 'Silicon Valley', we call it what we want, we will judge on facts and not on words," he says. on Europe 1. "So, confidence, I don't know if there is any but in any case we can project ourselves over five or ten years, easily."

All employees have understood that the survival of the site depends on electricity.