Renault CEO: French Unrest & Europe's Moment of Reckoning

Will Bain (0:13)

Hello, and welcome to the Big Boss Interview podcast from the BBC. I'm Will Bain. Now, we're close to ties between the UK and EU being discussed more and more. It's a great time to be speaking to one of Europe's biggest car manufacturers, of course, the sector that has been transformed by Chinese competition and the pressure on the shift to electric vehicles. Our transport correspondent, Theo Leggett, has been exploring all of that and more for the latest episode of the Big Boss Interview.

Theo Leggett (0:41)

That's right, Will. I've been speaking to François Provost, who's the chief executive of Renault Group, the French carmaker which also owns the Romanian producer Dacia and the sports car brand Alpine. He's a key player in the industry, and as you'll hear, he's also quite a straight talker. We discussed electric cars and the growing threat to Europe's industry posed by China. He is genuinely worried that if more isn't done to create what he calls a level playing field, there could be very serious damage to the European industry.

Now, Renault has recently launched a lot of electric models, but despite that, he's really not in favor of what he calls the tsunami of regulations, including emissions regulations, which are meant to promote electric car sales in the UK and Europe. He argues that they push up the cost of new cars and play directly into the hands of the Chinese.

And then there are links between the UK and the EU. He definitely wants to see firmer bonds, including the UK being allowed into the Made in Europe scheme, which reserves public funding in Europe for goods that are majority produced in this part of the world. But he wants to see all of that in the context of a major new deal between Europe and China aimed at promoting Chinese investment here, rather than just a wave of cheap car sales.

Will Bain (1:52)

Well let's hear it then. This is Theo's chat with François Provost, the Chief Executive of Renault.

Theo Leggett (2:01)

Here we are in a sweet high up in the Chard, one of the most dramatic buildings in London skyline. A great place to sit back and look at the big picture of what's going on in the streets down below.

With me is François Provost, who's Chief Executive of Renault, and fresh from the Paris Motor Show, where all the big names in the industry have been showing off their latest technology. François, welcome to the Big Boss Podcast.

François Provost (2:23)

Yes, thank you. Thank you. Hello, Theo. I'm very happy to be with you.

Theo Leggett (2:27)

Let's look at the motor industry as it is at the moment. On the one hand, there's a technical revolution going on with the transition to electric cars and so forth. On the other, established players risk being usurped by a new wave of manufacturers from China. There's geopolitical problems everywhere, fuel prices shooting up.

It sounds like a very tricky time to be the head of a car company.

François Provost (2:49)

Yes, I confirm. It is challenging. At the same time, it is very exciting. When I joined Renault 25 years ago, I discovered an industry where everything is difficult, complex and 25 years later, it is a bit the same because...

Theo Leggett (3:09)

It's worse, isn't it?

François Provost (3:11)

Yeah, but your product remains very emotional when sometimes...

Not in the UK because you like cars in the UK, but in Europe, some countries, people say that, oh, no, people, they don't like car, young people. All of this is not true, not true. People, they need car, they want car and they like cars. So this is about the same. But what changed is technology because now, we introduce electrification, we introduce software, centralized architecture. So we have to dedicate much more time to dig and to learn about new technologies and I like it. Before, we used to take hours to define the small detail of a bumper. So now we have to continue to do this, but at the same time, we have to know how to put AI in the car.

Theo Leggett (3:59)

And you have to do it faster as well.

François Provost (4:01)

And much faster, yeah. Develop car within two years. This is one of the description by our new Chinese competitors. Complete change of paradigm. At Renault, we decided to set up a development center in China to learn.

And we develop most of the car in China for the Twingo. Twingo will launch in the UK in coming weeks.

I'm pretty sure it will be a big hit, same as R5. And thanks to this proof of concept, now, our ambition as Renault Group is to show that European OEMs can develop in Europe with our engineers, with our European suppliers, at the same level of speed and technology as what the Chinese ecosystem is capable to do in China.