RNM alliance will invest 23 billion euros into EVs over next five years

Last week, the alliance partners Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi Motors affirmed their plan to invest 23 billion euros into electric vehicles over the next five years, with an intent to jointly develop a common automotive electronic architecture as the struggling Franco-Japanese group strains to retrieve lost momentum.

This was the first major announcement made by the alliance partners in the last two years, confirming they would jointly launch 35 new EVs over the next five years. Likewise, they will follow a shared strategy to hook a global battery production capacity of 220 GWh by 2030.

As part of the impulse, Renault will also design a common centralized electrical and electronic architecture and present its first "full software-defined auto" by 2025. The companies said that by 2026 two-thirds of their models would share typical platforms, up from 60% now.

During an online presentation, Alliance Operating Board Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard stated that "the alliance will hold its place among the world automotive leaders" amid a financial scandal.

The partners said they intend to secure a 220 gigawatt-hours battery production capacity for the new EVs by 2030. This would provide a greater scale to halve the battery costs by 2026, further reducing them by 65% by the end of 2028. However, how the capacity would be secured wasn't revealed.

Amid all the alliance news, the three carmakers even spoke about their individual plans. Renault unveiled its five-year 10 billion euro EV strategy; Japan's No. 3 carmaker spoke about its intention to launch 23 electrified vehicles by 2030. On the other hand, Nissan stated its plan to replace its Micra car in Europe with a new EV using one of the common platforms.

Financial markets have expected a new structure. Renault has been dominant since it bailed out Nissan a couple of decades ago, but its Japanese partner is now smaller by sales. When asked about their plans of modifying their existing holding stats, Senard said, "Life is long, and we should never be impatient on that kind of subject."

Also read: Geely And Renault signed contract to take up South Korea and other Asian car markets