Company overview
Renault S.A., established in 1899, is a French multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt. Initially focused on producing cars and vans, the company’s history includes manufacturing trucks, tractors, tanks, buses, aircraft, and aircraft engines. From 1999, Renault has been part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. The company began as a family business, with Louis Renault taking full control in 1906. Early innovations included mass production techniques adopted from Henry Ford and the development of distinctive car designs, such as the ‘coal scuttle’ bonnet. Renault played a significant role in motor sport and produced aircraft engines during World War I, including the revolutionary FT tank. In the interwar years, Renault struggled to compete with Citroën but regained its position as France’s largest car manufacturer by the mid-1930s. During World War II, Louis Renault refused to produce tanks for the Nazis and instead manufactured trucks. Following liberation, the Billancourt factory faced continued bombing during the war years and was subsequently ‘requisitioned’ by the French government to prevent communist influence. The company has also produced agricultural machinery and aircraft, including a range of airplanes during the 1930s.
