Renault Scenic and Rafale to offer up to 466 miles with new platform

The Renault Group has set out a bold plan to become the “benchmark European car maker”, with 36 new models launching worldwide by 2030, which will utilise a new software-based architecture and technology – with each machine developed in around two years. The new strategy, labelled futuready, has been developed by group CEO Francois Provost who succeeded Luca de Meo last July. It is effectively a successor plan to de Meo’s 2021 Renaulution, which helped revitalise the previously struggling French firm. The plan is built on four pillars: growth through new products and increasing sales; technology; operational improvements; and building trust with staff, suppliers, partners and customers. Provost described the futuREady plan as “a crucial step in the future of Renault Group”, and said: “In an environment that is even more competitive, we can build on solid fundamentals: our brands, our products and our financial results.” He added that the plan is intended to prove the group is “here for the long-term and we will become the benchmark for the European automotive industry on the global stage.” Growth plans: 36 new models The 36 models that will arrive in the next four years will be split across the group’s three brands, Renault, Dacia and Alpine. Of those models 22 will be focused on Europe (14 will be fully electric), and 14 for international markets. The main Renault brand will account for the bulk of the new launches, with 12 European product launches and all of those planned internationally for the group. Notably, Renault will maintain hybrid offerings in Europe beyond 2030. The ultimate aim is for the brand to grow to more than two million sales per year, of which half will be outside Europe. The target is for all of its sales to be electrified (electric or hybrid) in Europe by 2030, along with 50% of those in other markets. Dacia will continue its range expansion into the C-segment with the new Striker, and will also expand its EV line-up from the Spring to four models, starting later this year with a new small car twinned with the Renault Twingo. By 2030 two-thirds of Dacia sales will be electrified, while it will also continue to focus on both all-wheel-drive and LPG technology. Meanwhile, Alpine will continue to target growth with the next-generation A110 sports car on the new Alpine Performance Platform (APP), the launch of the A290 and A390 into new markets, and more personalised models such as the A110 R Ultima. The Renault Group wants customer experience to play a “key role” in its new strategy, believing it can become a driver of brand differentiation and loyalty. Notably, the group is aiming for “every stage in the lifetime of the cars sold” to become a source of revenue optimisation – including new cars, after sales, used vehicles, financial and energy. By doing so the group wants to lift customer loyalty to 80% by 2030. Technology: crucial new EV platform The group’s focus on technology will include software and digital development, but the first priority is a new bespoke electric vehicle platform that will underpin Renault’s next-generation of C-segment EVs. Known as RGEV medium 2.0, the platform can be used for vehicles of all sizes from ‘B+’ to D-segment models, and for all body styles. It has been developed with a focus on optimising the range/cost ratio, and will feature 800V architecture allowing ultra-fast charging. The battery will use a cell-to-body design with 20% fewer parts and the ability to accept pouch, prismatic and blade cells as required. It will offer a range of up to 466 miles in pure EV form, although it will also accept a range extender powertrain that offers a total range of 870 miles, with emissions of under 26g CO2/km. The new platform will be a software-defined vehicle (SDV), meaning that 90% of its functions can be controlled by software and updated over-the-air, which the group says will halve the time in which functions can be updated. The operating system will be co-developed with Google, and based on the latter’s Android platform. The next step beyond that will be to evolve the SDV platform into an Artificial Intelligence Defined Vehicle (AIDV), which Renault claims paves the way for truly intelligent cars and can control infotainment, ADAS and the chassis. That SDV platform will first be seen in the forthcoming Traffic E-Tech electric van. More broadly, the Renault Group will develop two different types of battery chemistry, with a ‘high-energy density’ version for high-powered or long-range models. Vehicles using that chemistry will gradually switch to the new 800V platform from 2028 onwards. There will also be an ‘affordable’ chemistry for small and ‘standard-range’ cars. The firm’s current A- and B-segment models, including the Renault 5 and Twingo, will remain on a 400V platform. The group is developing a third-generation rare-wound rotor electric motor that will forego rare earth components and is claimed to offer 93% efficiency on motorways and 25% more power – a total of 273bhp. The motor, offered on both front- and rear-drive vehicles, will be developed and built in-house. Meanwhile, Renault Group will extend the life of its E-Tech hybrid technology with new versions that offer less than 150bhp. Operational excellence: two-year development cycles The Twingo is the first Renault that has been developed in less than two years, in a bid to keep pace with fast Chinese rivals. The goal is for every one of the group’s new projects to be developed in that timeline, helped by cutting parts in its vehicles by around 30%, the use of new robots in production, halving downtime from factories and using digital twins and operational data stored in an ‘industrial metaverse’. It will use AI to monitor all key manufacturing stages in a bid to improve quality and respond to issues faster, and will continue work to cut downtime by monitoring potential disruption in its supply chain. Combined, the moves should allow the group to reduce initial outlay on vehicle development by up to 40%, saving around €400 (£345) a year per vehicle on average. Building trust with staff, suppliers and customers The group says that it is making long-term investments in skills development of its staff to strengthen their employability, while also working more closely with suppliers to help them develop faster and reduce costs. It will also implement AI and digital technology across its 9000 retail network sites. Notably, the group has emphasised again that it is open to further developing what it calls its “recognised expertise” in partnerships: it already works with the likes of Nissan, Mitsubishi, Volvo, Ford and Geely.

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Renault Scenic and Rafale to offer up to 466 miles with new platform

Announced as part of Renault Group's Futuready strategy, architecture will underpin ‘B+’ to D-segment vehicles

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Renault Scenic and Rafale to offer up to 466 miles with new platform

Announced as part of Renault Group's Futuready strategy, architecture will underpin ‘B+’ to D-segment vehicles

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