{"id":121581,"date":"2023-11-26T17:49:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T17:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leviolonrouge.com\/?p=121581"},"modified":"2023-11-26T17:49:15","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T17:49:15","slug":"renault-is-taking-over-as-the-manufacturer-of-cars-for-the-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leviolonrouge.com\/auto-news\/renault-is-taking-over-as-the-manufacturer-of-cars-for-the-people\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cRenault is taking over as the manufacturer of cars for the people\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tuesday 7 November, 2023: the Government barks up the wrong tree by trying to answer the question that desperately few real-world motorists are asking. You know, the one about when inevitably expensive driverless cars we don\u2019t want or need will be legal and insurable on UK roads, thereby putting countless hard-working, tax-paying professional drivers out of work and on the dole. Not clever.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
A week later: the more clued-up, non-political \u2018establishment\u2019 did the opposite by asking \u2013 and to some extent answering \u2013 several of the more immediate concerns we have about the prices of, and future for, vehicles that run solely on electricity.<\/p>\n
\u201cEV demand in Europe to slow as customers await affordable electric cars,\u201d warned the highly respected Reuters news agency. On the front page of the always- reliable Financial Times was the headline, \u201cElectric car prices slashed after sales run out of juice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even HSBC got in on the act by showing graphics clearly illustrating the current dramatic decline in the rates of EV sales growth across Europe and the United States. Of more immediate interest to buyers in Britain, the bank reckoned that average discounts on new electric cars in UK showrooms jumped from 6.5 per cent in August to 11.1 per cent last month.<\/p>\n
The response from the Renault Group was instant and impeccably timed \u2013 or purely but deliciously coincidental. The Paris-based empire \u2013 led by Italian-born CEO Luca De Meo, ably assisted by his highly cost-effective factories in Eastern Europe, China and beyond \u2013 is well aware that the global EV industry\u2019s business model (comprising generally excessive official retail prices resulting in sharply decelerating demand) ain\u2019t working. Now there\u2019s a surprise.<\/p>\n
So the Group is now doing and saying more than any other large car maker about what\u2019s broken. It already produces the least expensive pure EV in mainland Europe \u2013 the Dacia Spring. When it arrives in the UK in 2024, this urban runabout could start at under \u00a320k.<\/p>\n
And the good news continues after De Meo said last week that by 2026 he\u2019ll bring back the Twingo \u2013 in pure-electric guise \u2013 below the psychologically important 20,000-Euro (\u00a317,000) barrier. For those unable or unwilling to buy outright, the word is that this proper, small, pure-electric car will be available from as little as 100 Euros (\u00a387) a month in some markets with incentives for EVs. By comparison, Citroen UK currently markets the Ami quadricycle from \u00a399 a month (after a deposit of \u00a31,337). Incidentally, Renault\u2019s monthly figure of 100 Euros\/\u00a387 for the 2026 Twingo translates into precisely \u00a320 a week.<\/p>\n
Pay a bit more and you\u2019ll get more from other imminent, temptingly priced, all-new Renaults, including the intriguing 4 and 5. Maybe a small Alpine or Dacia, or a product from the lesser-known Mobilize brand will be more up your street.<\/p>\n
Regardless, at a time when Volkswagen has depressingly decided to ditch its entire entry-level up! range, Luca De Meo\u2019s Renault Group is perfectly positioning itself to take over as the manufacturer of the car \u2013 or cars \u2013 for the people.<\/p>\n
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Do you agree with Mike? Let us know in the comments section below…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n