FRANKFURT, Aug 25 — French carmaker Renault is counting on higher sales figures for electrically powered vehicles this year, despite the ongoing economic downturn, reported dpa news agency.
“Since the beginning of the year, we have noticed an increasing demand for electric cars,” brand boss Fabrice Cambolive told the trade magazine Autogazette.
For this reason, he expects Renault to continue to see growth in e-cars in 2023. In addition, the supply of semiconductors is improving, which Cambolive expects will bring down the cost of e-vehicles — both for customers and for manufacturers.
“With our e-division Ampere, we will not only be able to further reduce the cost of an e-car, but also the fixed costs of our company,” said Cambolive.
Renault is currently undergoing a transformation and plans to split into several independent parts. The electric car and software division Ampere is to be spun off in the second half of the year and then floated on the stock exchange.
Cambolive expects falling costs to make Renault more competitive in the market for e-vehicles, passing on savings to customers. The group is working on offering an e-car for €25,000 (RM125,579).
The new electric edition of the R5 model should also have a sales tag of less than €30,000. — Bernama-dpa
