The Société de Véhicules Automobiles de Batilly () (SoVAB) is a subsidiary of the French car manufacturer

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

, created in 1980 to operate the light commercial vehicle plant located at Batilly.

History

The project to create a new facility at Batilly, Meurthe-et-Moselle, was begun by Renault's subsidiary Saviem in 1972. It was continued when Saviem was merged with

Berliet Berliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, buses, trucks and military vehicles among other vehicles based in Vénissieux, outside of Lyon, France. Founded in 1899, and apart from a five-year period from 1944 to 1949 when it was put into 'a ...

to form Renault Véhicules Industriels (RVI). The factory was constructed between 1976 and 1979. In 1980 Renault took from its subsidiary RVI a 25% stake of the factory's capital to form SOVAB. At the same year the factory started to manufacture the first-generation

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

. The first-generation Trafic was introduced in 1981 and the Renault B in 1982. During the following years Renault collaborated with

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

and in 1997, they launched the Master II which was also marketed as Opel Movano. From 1995 onwards the Batilly factory became the sole assembler of the Trafic I and its German clone the Opel/Vauxhall Arena, after Chausson's Creil factory was closed down. The model was discontinued in 2000. Renault kept Batilly when sold RVI to

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

in 2001. In 2010 was introduced the Master III.

Facilities

The SOVAB complex comprises 101

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s of which 181,838 m² are covered. There is a single

production line A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory where components are assembled to make a finished article or where materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward ...

. The vehicles assembled by the company are sold by Renault,

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

and

Renault Trucks Renault Trucks was a French commercial truck manufacturer with corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it was a subsidiary of Volvo since 2001. In July 2024, John Cockerill (company) completed the takeover ...

. On 13 June 2013, SoVAB produced its 2,000,000th unit. Within SOVAB there is also a Renault Tech workshop which has 6,800 m² and employs 72 people.

Current Vehicles manufactured

Renault Master The Renault Master is a large van produced by the French manufacturer Renault since 1980, now in its third generation. It replaced the earlier Renault Super Goélette light trucks. Opel has sold versions of the second and third series vans as ...

III (2010−present)

Former Vehicles manufactured

* Renault Master/Renault Trucks B series/Renault Trucks Messenger (1980−1997) *

Renault Trafic The Renault Trafic (pronounced as "traffic") is a light commercial van produced by the French automaker Renault since 1980. It has also been marketed as the Fiat Talento, the Nissan NV300, the Nissan Primastar and the Mitsubishi Express. Unti ...

(1981−2000) * Renault Master II/Renault Trucks Mascott (1997−2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Societe De Vehicules Automobiles De Batilly Renault Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1980 1980 establishments in France Motor vehicle assembly plants in France