Renault investing €300 million in French plant to build electric LCVs

French automaker Renault announced on Friday that its Sandouville plant will be used to build electric light commercial vehicles (LCVs) with a €300 million new investment.

These new LCVs will be produced for Flexis SAS, a new joint venture between Renault Group, Volvo Group, and CMA CGM. The production at the site is expected to start in 2026.

There are currently three plants operated by Renault for LCV production in France including Maubeuge (Kangoo), Sandouvile (Trafic), and Batilly (Master).

Among these, Sandouville has built over 1,000,000 Trafic vehicles for Renault and its partners.

Renault Sandouville Plant in France (image Credit: Renault)

With the expansion in operations for this new requirement, the group would hire 550 employees over the next four years. The plant has 1,850 headcounts.

The plant is designed with its digital ecosystem. It has site workshops with maximum use of operational real-time data to inspect various aspects of plant performance. That includes quality, cost, lead times, energy use, and more.

Renault is also looking to retool the entire plant with a new modernized painting process that will reduce the use of resources and energy by 30 percent.

(source – Renault)