Renault do Brasil (), formerly Renault do Brasil Automoveis, is the Brazilian subsidiary of the French car manufacturer

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

. It was established in 1997, and is Brazil's fifth largest automaker by sales. In 2012, Brazil was the second largest market for Renault.

History

Renault has been present in Brazil since the 1960s, initially through a partnership with the American company Willys Overland, which produced under license cars of the French automaker. At the end of 1961, Willys introduced the Interlagos, a copy of the

Alpine A110 The Alpine A110 is a sports car produced by French automobile manufacturer Alpine from 1963 to 1977. The car was styled as a " berlinette", which in the post-WWII era refers to a small enclosed two-door berline, better-known as a coupé. Th ...

, producing also other models, like the Dauphine and the Dauphine Gordini, until 1968. That year Willys Overland sold its operations to

Ford do Brasil Ford Brasil is the Brazilian subsidiary of American automaker Ford Motor Company, founded on April 24, 1919. The operation started out importing the Ford Model T cars and the Ford Model TT trucks in kit form from the United States for assembl ...

, which inherited the "project M". This project, developed by the Renault and Willys partnership, resulted in the launch of the Ford Corcel, a car whose style can be considered, roughly, an Americanized version of the

Renault 12 }), the other is the submodel designation TS. Sold as a sedan or a station wagon (TSW), it has a 1.4 litre carburetted C1J (Cléon) engine with and came with either a four- or a five-speed transmission. Australia The Renault 12 won Australia's ...

with a CH1 engine. In the 1970s, Brazil ended car imports and Renault did not return until 1992, when the company's Argentinean and Brazilian operations were taken by the holding company COFAL SA. In 1997, Renault retook the control of its operations in Argentina and Brazil. In Brazil, Renault formed the subsidiary Renault do Brasil Automoveis. In 1998, it opened the Ayrton Senna manufacturing complex in São José dos Pinhais, Curitiba. With the aim of financing the construction of the facilities Renault agreed to give the State of Paraná a 40% stake in exchange of . This stake would be mostly returned to Renault after seven years. Despite its success, the agreement found some political dissensus. The first Renault cars manufactured in Brazil were the Scenic and the

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; el, Κλειώ), also spelled Kleio, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre playing. Etymology Clio's name is etymologically derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλεί� ...

(the production of the latter was moved to

Renault Argentina Renault Argentina is the Argentine subsidiary of the French car manufacturer Renault. It is one of the oldest Renault operations in the world and is ranked consistently in first place by sales between the local automakers. Renault Argentina was off ...

in 2007). The company also produced the Megane in sedan and estate versions, which ended between 2010 and 2012. Later, it entered into production the Sandero, the Logan and the Duster.

Operations

The Ayrton Senna complex, with 2.5 million square meters, consists of a passenger car plant (bodywork and assembly) opened in 1998, an engine plant, Mecanica Mercosul, opened in 1999, and a light commercial vehicle (LCV) plant, operated jointly with

Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun brands ...

. In August 2011, Renault announced an investment plan of R$1.5 billion for expanding the production to 320,000 vehicles by 2015. In 2011, the Brazilian growth of Renault was seven times bigger than the market average, with 194,300 cars sold and a market share of 5.7%. That year the company produced 256,200 cars and vans and 332,000 engines. A 41% of the cars, engines and parts produced are exported, with destinations such as the Renault subsidiaries in Argentina (22%), Colombia (13%), Romania and Mexico (4%). On 2 August 2012, Renault announced its plans to expand Mecanica Mercosul's production output with 25% by 2013.

Renault Design America Latina

In April 2008, Renault opened in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

its first design center in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with t ...

. It designed the Sand'Up concept, which was unveiled at the 2008 São Paulo International Motor Show, It also conceived the Sandero Stepway concept in 2010 and collaborated in the Duster design. The center also designed the D-Cross (a Duster-based concept), which was unveiled at the 2012 São Paulo International Motor Show. The design studio also modified the production Sandero and Logan to adapt them to the local markets.

Cars currently being manufactured

* Renault Sandero II (2014–present) * Renault Master III (2012–present) * Renault Logan II (2013–present) *

Renault Duster Duster or dusters may refer to: People * Alfreda Duster (1904–1983), Chicago-based social worker and civic leader, daughter of civil rights activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett, mother of academician Troy Barnett (below) * Anthony Duster Bennett (19 ...

(October 2011–present) **

Renault Duster Oroch The Renault Duster Oroch (called Renault Oroch since 2022) is a 4-door pickup truck produced by the French manufacturer Renault primarily for the South American market since September 2015. It has four doors, space for five passengers, a load ca ...

(2015 to present) *

Renault Captur The Renault Captur (pronounced as "capture") is a series of subcompact crossover SUVs manufactured by the French automaker Renault. The production version of the first one, based on the B platform, made its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show and ...

(2016–present) * Renault Kwid (2017–present)

Cars formerly manufactured

Renault Clio The Renault Clio () is a supermini car ( B-segment), produced by French automobile manufacturer Renault. It was launched in 1990, and entered its fifth generation in 2019. The Clio has had substantial critical and commercial success, being cons ...

II (October 1999–2007) *

Renault Scénic The Renault Scénic () is a car which was produced by French car manufacturer Renault, the first to be labelled as a small multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) in Europe. The first generation was based on the chassis of the Mégane, a small family ca ...

(January 1999–July 2010) *

Renault Mégane The Renault Mégane () is a small family car produced by the French car manufacturer Renault for model year 1996, and was the successor to the Renault 19. The Mégane has been offered in three- and five-door hatchback, saloon, coupé, convertib ...

II (2006–''circa'' 2012) * Renault Master II (2001–2012) * Renault Logan I (2007–2013) * Renault Sandero I (2007–2014)

Ownership

As of 2011, 80.29 percent of the company was controlled indirectly by Renault through the holding Compagnie Financière pour L'Amérique Latine (COFAL), which also had shares in Renault Argentina and is mainly owned by the automaker. A 19.56 percent was owned directly by Renault of France. The State of Paraná held the remaining shares.

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry in Brazil Renault Car manufacturers of Brazil Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1997 1997 establishments in Brazil Brazilian subsidiaries of foreign companies