Renault Brilliance Jinbei races to make world's first e-LCV

Three brands will be operated by newly established Renault Brilliance Jinbei Automotive Co, the first Chinese venture to unite more than two marques.

It will make the world's first electric light commercial vehicle, or LCV, in a bid to meet its ambitious targets in China.

The Sino-French joint venture is expected to sell a total of 150,000 light commercial vehicles embedded with Renault, Jinbei and Huasong name badges by 2022, and to take a leading position in the Chinese LCV market.

"Renault Brilliance Jinbei wants to be the major LCV manufacturer in China," said Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of Renault Group, at the Renault Brilliance Jinbei Automotive Co inauguration ceremony on Friday in Shenyang, capital of Northeastern Liaoning province.

Industrial data shows that the Chinese LCV segment's annual sales volume has reached 3 million.

"Renault Brilliance Jinbei will be the world's first automaker producing electric commercial electric vehicles, and we will bring out more models in the future," Ghosn told China Daily.

"We will not take European products directly to China, but will localize them in China," he continued.

Renault Group will bring its LCV technologies to the joint venture, and both partners will decide the application of the technology and the lineups together. The French automaker now has 12 LCV models, including four electronic products.

The future offering will consist of multi-purpose vehicles, mid-size vans and large vans, according to the news release.

The joint venture will also benefit from Brilliance China Automotive's local knowledge, its 220-strong dealership network, and its roughly 1 million customers, according to Qi Yumin, chairman of the Chinese auto group.

Both partners will inject a total of 1.5 billion yuan ($227 million) in accordance with the 51:49 shareholding ratio, with Brilliance China holding the majority 51 percent stake and Renault holding the remainder.

Yale Zhang, managing director of Automotive Foresight (Shanghai), said earlier that: "Both partners will have a stronger say in the Chinese market, since they are starting their second joint venture in the country."

They will have stronger bargaining power in future negotiations with the other partners and suppliers, according to Zhang.

Brilliance China used to only have one joint venture with BMW Group, with BMW Brilliance Automotive producing luxury passenger cars in Shenyang. So did Renault, with its Chinese venture Dongfeng Renault Automobile manufacturing SUVs in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province. Sources in the auto sector, who declined to be named, said the new joint venture is significant for Renault, as it is seizing the opportunity to use its second and last chance－as per quotas－for a conventional vehicle joint venture in China, and helping Jinbei to stop losing money.

Ashwani Gupta, senior vice-president of Renault-Nissan Alliance's LCV business unit, said: "Jinbei is an established brand and our strong products in the future will push the brand."

Qi, chairman of Brilliance China, said: "The joint venture will accelerate the development of the local brands' capabilities, and tackle the existing debt issue formed a decade ago."