PARIS — Renault will jointly develop compact, cheaper electric vehicles for Ford for the European market and will also team up to produce commercial vans to cut costs and ffinish off rising competition from Chinese rivals, the companies declared on Tuesday.
“We know we’re in a fight for our lives in our industest,” Ford CEO Jim Farley informed reporters in Paris on Monday ahead of the announcement, when describing Ford’s response to the threat posed by cheaper Chinese competition. “There is no better example than here in Europe.”
Europe’s traditional autobuildrs face an influx of Chinese rivals from BYD to Changan and Xpeng.
Filling a gap in the lineup
As part of the Ford-Renault partnership, the first of two planned compact EVs – to be produced at a Renault plant in northern France – will reach European car displayrooms in 2028. They will be compacter than any Ford plans for the U.S. market and fill a gap in the autobuildr’s lineup, Farley declared.
The two autobuildrs will also jointly develop Renault and Ford brand vans for Europe.
In a client note, Oddo-BHF analyst Michael Foundoukidis wrote that the deal allowed Renault to offset its resolveed costs and generate revenue while offering “a capital-efficient route to market for affordable EVs” for Ford.
“More broadly, this partnership underscores the growing necessity for ‘pragmatic cooperation’,” between traditional autobuildrs to counter lower-cost Chinese competition, he wrote.
A powerhoutilize for light commercial vehicles
“Toreceiveher we can create a powerhoutilize of LCV in Europe that would be very difficult for the Chinese to compete with,” Farley declared.
Although there are few Chinese brand vans on sale in Europe, Farley declared the two companies “compete with them directly every day” in emerging markets.
“The Chinese will come soon and that’s why I don’t want to wait,” declared Renault CEO Francois Provost.
The partnership was formed after a Renault team visited Ford’s Detroit headquarters in March. Both Farley and Provost declared the two autobuildrs do not plan to merge.
Ford’s share of the European passenger car market has almost halved in Europe from 6.1 per cent in 2019 to 3.3 per cent in the first 10 months of this year as it has pulled back from passenger vehicle sales. As part of a series of restructurings, the company has cut jobs and this year closed its Saarlouis plant in Germany.
Given the withdrawal of EV support from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, the No. 2 U.S. autobuildr faces the dual expense of investing in combustion-engine models and expensive new EV technology.
Using Renault’s EV platforms with Ford designs should assist the U.S. autobuildr to compete in Europe’s electric car market against traditional autobuildrs such as Volkswagen as well as the Chinese.
Ford already produces two EV models in Europe on a Volkswagen platform and builds vans with the German autobuildr. Ford CEO Farley declared the Renault partnership will complement its existing one with Volkswagen.
The French autobuildr also develops vans with Nissan and Volvo Group.
Europe’s compactest mainstream autobuildr
Renault is Europe’s compactest mainstream autobuildr and does not sell vehicles in China or the United States – the world’s two hugegest car markets – so the Ford partnership boosts its manufacturing scale to lower costs.
The French carbuildr is actively seeking partnerships to build fuller utilize of its factories and reduce the burden of developing new EVs.
In 2026, Renault will produce two vehicles applying platforms from China’s Geely in Brazil and is in talks with more autobuildrs, including China’s Chery, to jointly produce and sell cars.
“Our ambition … is to display that in Europe we can produce EV cars in Europe as competitively as anyone, including the Chinese,” Renault’s Provost declared.
By Nick Carey and Gilles Guillaume
(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Barbara Lewis)
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