Renault Group set to reintegrate EV division Ampere
For a year and a half, the Renault Group had announced its plans, and in November 2023, the time came: Renault established the independent company Ampere for electric cars and software-defined vehicles (SDVs), employing around 11,000 staff, of whom approximately 35% were engineers. As part of this move, the e-mobility cluster ElectriCity in northern France—comprising the car factories in Douai and Maubeuge, as well as the component plant in Ruitz—along with the component plant in Cléon, were transferred to Ampere’s ownership. Ampere also took over production responsibility for electric models such as the Renault 4 and Renault 5, which continued to be marketed under the Renault brand. Later, Ampere opened a new software centre near Nice.
Ampere was considered a pet project of former CEO Luca de Meo, who also brought the alliance partners Nissan and Mitsubishi on board and aimed to take Ampere public quickly. However, Renault postponed the IPO in January 2024, and it has not been rescheduled since. In March 2025, Nissan was released from its obligation to invest €600 million in Ampere. And in May 2025, the €200 million investment agreement with Mitsubishi was also terminated.
After Luca de Meo moved to the luxury group Kering in the summer of 2025, his successor, François Provost, began reviewing the strategy. He now appears set to reverse the spin-off of Ampere, despite having previously supported it. This is reported by the news agency Reuters, citing two insiders. However, Luca de Meo may have at least indirectly prepared this step by terminating the contracts with Nissan and Mitsubishi – because since then it was clear that Ampere belongs entirely to Renault anyway.
The reintegration of Ampere into the group is expected to simplify the organisation, reduce costs, and accelerate the implementation of future projects. “As there is no longer an IPO, there is no longer a need for a specific entity, which is why Renault is reintegrating everything in order to simplify and eliminate the complexity inherent in the initial model,” one of the insiders told Reuters.
Going forward, Ampere is set to operate as a pure development centre for the group’s electric vehicles and software, while the car and component plants previously under Ampere will become direct subsidiaries of the Renault Group again.
This marks the second major decision by former CEO Luca de Meo that François Provost is likely reversing: in December, he halted Mobilize’s car-sharing business and reintegrated the previously independent unit, along with its remaining activities, back into the group.
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