The Renault Group and Chinese Holding Geely Group signed an agreement for make new hybrid and electric vehicles in Brazil. The models will be produced in the Ayrton Senna industrial complex that the French automaker has in São José Dos Pinhais, Paraná state, where Kardian and Kwid models are also manufactured.
The agreement is not the first between both companies. They are already partners in the company Horse Engineresponsible for producing, among others, the new turbocharged engines that equip Kardian and Duster models.
They also have a Joint Venture in South Korea (Geely has 34% of Renault’s actions) that, among other products, allowed the development and production of the Grand Koleos, a plug -in hybrid SUV (based on the Geely Xingyue L) that shares The platform with the Volvo XC40.
This new agreement will allow Renault Brazil to manufacture and market hybrid and electric vehicles for the Chinese company, although the points of sale of each brand will be physically separated.
Geely’s investment will make it Renault Brazil’s minority partner and will allow access to the local infrastructure of production, marketing and services. The association would only involve Renault Brazil and would not apply to other subsidiaries of the French manufacturer in South America, such as Argentina.
The main objective of the Chinese automaker is to promote exponential growth in Latin America (for this year it plans to increase the volume of sales in the region by around 60%). And despite being one of China’s largest manufacturers, it still has a very low market share in our region.
According to the local site Self -esportGeely intends to produce at least two vehicles in Brazil in 2026 or, no later than 2027. This would shorten competition against her rivals BYD y Great Wall Motors (GWM), which already have advanced operations in that country and open their own factories at the end of 2025.
One of Geely’s models with potential to be produced in the Brazilian plant is the former electric SUV. In the medium and long term, the company would even allow the joint marketing of Renault models with the Geely badge and vice versa, as is the case with the Grand Koleos in South Korea, where the model is also sold as Geely Monjaro.
El Complejo Industrial Ayrton Senna is ubicated to São José dos Pinhais, State of Paraná “Renault Group and Geely have already traveled a long way together: we successfully launched a joint company in Korea and, with Horse, we design a world leader in propulsion systems technology. Together, we have created confidence and an effective working relationship. These are great assets that we want to take advantage of this new cooperation in Brazil today. It will allow us to consolidate our industrial presence in the state of Paraná and further strengthen the position of the Renault brand in this key market, ”said Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group.
For his part, Eric Li, president of Geely Holding Group, said: “Geely’s cooperation with Renault is part of his commitment to work with global partners to transform and improve the industry into a sustainable direction. From South Korea to global propulsion systems, and now to Brazil, Geely’s relationship with Renault has advanced. When working together, we benefit each other from shared synergies and improve efficiency to create greater value for our global users. ”
This model of agreement follows the line of Stellantis with Leapmotors, the Chinese hybrid and electric car brand that could reach Argentina. The Asian company in which Stellantis invested 1,500 million euros to acquire 21% of its share package already has a presence in Chile and Uruguay, and will soon begin its commercial operations in Brazil.