Chinese cars are taking a key step overseas. On January 21, Geely Holding Group and Renault Group officially signed a contract to jointly explore the Korean market. This is the first time that a Chinese brand car has cooperated with an international brand in overseas markets in the form of technology output after the CKD model.
According to the agreement, the two parties will develop customized models for the Korean market. The new product will use Geely CMA modular architecture and Geely intelligent hybrid technology, combined with Renault's forward-looking technology, styling design and user experience advantages, to accelerate the landing of Renault Group's "Renaulution Plan" in the local market. The new car will be produced at Renault Samsung's plant in Busan and is expected to start production in 2024.
The Renault Samsung plant mentioned in the agreement was put into operation in 1998, and Renault owns 80.1% of the shares. The plant has an annual production capacity of more than 200,000 vehicles and an engine production line with a production capacity of more than 80,000 units. It has produced Renault Z.E. and Coreo, Nissan X-Trail and other models.
The CMA modular architecture and intelligent hybrid technology derived from Geely are the latest technological achievements in the "Technology Geely 4.0 Era". Among them, the CMA modular architecture, through the centralized distribution structure, the electrical and electronic architecture can be upward compatible with rapid iteration of automotive electronic products. At present, it covers nearly 20 models of Volvo, Lynk & Co, Geely and Polar Star, including cars, SUVs, traditional fuels, BSG, HEV hybrids, PHEV plug-in hybrids, EV pure electric and high-performance vehicles.
Geely intelligent hybrid technology, that is, Geely Thunder Divine Intelligence Engine Hi · X hybrid technology, to achieve 43.32% of the world's highest thermal efficiency, DHT Pro three-speed dual motor transmission, 40% fuel saving rate, support A0 ~ C class models full coverage, is the only industry can be full power domain FOTA upgrade of the hybrid system, in the power, fuel consumption, intelligence have achieved a global leader, for the world-class modular intelligent hybrid platform. At present, it has been equipped on the Chinese star series such as Xingrui and Xingyue L, and has also laid out models such as Lynk & Co 01 and Lynk & Co 03.
On January 14, 2021, Renault Group officially announced the new strategic plan "Renaulution". As a core content, in terms of product planning, Renault Plans to launch 24 products by 2025, half of which are distributed in C-class and D segments, including at least 10 pure electric vehicles. At the same time, Renault is also working with the Lotus brand to develop the next generation of electric sports cars. Geely Holding Group holds a 51% stake in Lotus.
The cooperation agreement is limited to the CMA modular architecture and hybrid technology. The disclosure does not address the business cooperation model between the two parties.
Given Renault's previous experience in the Chinese market, such as Sanjiang Renault, Dongfeng Renault and Renault Brilliance, Renault Does not seem to have found a path to success. Despite this, Renault has not given up on the Chinese market and said that it will focus on the development of electric vehicles and light commercial vehicles for the Chinese market.
Renault CEO Luca de Mayo called the collaboration with Geely an "innovative partnership."
In 2021, sales of new energy vehicles in South Korea will be 248,000 units, and the South Korean government expects to double to about 500,000 units in 2022, of which at least 200,000 are pure electric vehicles. The South Korean government plans to increase the number of new energy vehicles to 2.83 million by 2025 and 7.85 million by 2030, respectively, helping to achieve the goal of reducing vehicle carbon emissions by 24% by 2030.