Renault CEO tours South Korea unit, reigniting talk that it may sell petrol-guzzling business to Geely
- Renault sold 34 per cent of its South Korean unit to Geely
- The unit is centred on a factory in Busan
Renault’s chief executive Luca De Meo toured a South Korean factory run with China’s Geely Automobile on Tuesday, as he pitched for sweeping restructuring of an alliance that would allow the French carmaker to focus on electric cars.
Renault and Nissan said on Monday they were in talks about a reset in their partnership that could include the Japanese carmaker investing in a new electric vehicle (EV) venture Renault plans to launch.
Separately, Geely, which owns Volvo Cars and a 9.7 per cent stake in Daimler, has been talking to Renault about taking a significant and potentially controlling stake in the combustion-engine business that Renault is also looking to spin off, people with knowledge of those talks said.
De Meo’s visit to South Korea was the first time he has visited the factory since bringing in Geely as a partner, and it comes with Renault facing an initial deadline of early November to report on its progress in launching its EV unit.
