Renault partners with Nissan on electric car for China

Working with Chinese state car manufacturer Dongfeng Motor, the companies will together develop and sell the electric vehicle, which is to be named the eGT, from 2019 onwards.

The idea is to create a small, low-cost, but “hyperconnected” car, which may even be considered “intelligent”, according to reports. It will be based on the traditional SUV platform, and come under the umbrella of small “urban 4x4s”.

The car will be produced in the Dongfeng factory in Shiyan, in Hubei province, and may yet be sold with Nissan, Renault, or Dongfeng branding, a spokesperson for the Renault-Nissan Alliance said.

The Shiyan factory has capacity to produce 120 000 vehicles per year.

Renault and Nissan, under the Renault-Nissan Alliance, will own 25% of the entity each, while Dongfeng will take the Chinese state-stipulated 50%.

This is not the first time Renault has partnered with Nissan in China - with the trio having worked together in 2016, and Nissan-Dongfeng already the third largest producer of vehicles in the country - but it is the first electric car project from the group.

Renault first entered the Chinese market last year, after signing an agreement with Dongfeng in 2016. In July this year, Renault also announced a separate joint venture with manufacturer Brilliance China Automotive.

“The creation of this new co-enterprise with Dongfeng strengthens our common desire to develop competitive electric vehicles for the Chinese market [and] exploit the potential of the Chinese market in this sector,” said Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault-Nissan in a press release.

“We are confident in our capacity to respond to the wishes of Chinese consumers and to reinforce our global leadership in the electric vehicle market.”

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has already created the Nissan Leaf (pictured), the highest-selling battery-powered car in the world, and Renault has already seen success in the low-cost, electric market with its Kwid model in India.

So far, all of Nissan’s products in China have failed to do as well as hoped, largely because the price has - up until now - been seen as too high compared to purely Chinese models.

China is said to be the today’s biggest global market for electric cars, with 260 000 models sold in 2016, and production of said vehicles reported to have grown 37,8% in 2017 compared to 2016.