Renault Group and Volvo Group to Create a new Company to Build Electrified Vans

Renault Group and Volvo Group have announced plans to create a joint venture managing the development of an all-new generation of electrified vans. The vehicles will be built on a new fully electric light commercial vehicle (LCV) skateboard platform that will offer high modularity for different body types at low cost.

An all-new family of fully electric and software defined vehicles will be introduced by the new company.

The production is planned to start in 2026.

Adopting the new Software Defined Vehicle architecture, the vehicle will feature capabilities to monitor the delivery activity and user business performance, reducing the global cost of usage for the logistic players with 30%. 

The new company will be fully independent, with Renault Group and Volvo Group aiming to share investments in research and development.

The joint venture is scheduled to start operations early 2024, and will be based in France.

CMA CGM Group has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Renault Group and Volvo Group to join the new company.

Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group., says: “Electrification and digitalization are paving the way for a revolution in the LCV market. Renault Group intends to be a leader in this transformation while ensuring a robust and effective value creation. Today, we are very proud to embark in this journey with Volvo Group to bring the best of solutions to our professional logistic customers. We also look forward to CMA CGM joining the company. The new company is the start-up minded, unmatched combination of the complementary assets of 3 champions: a leading truck maker, expert in tailored services, a champion of the global supply chains and a European EV pioneer & LCV leader. All the ingredients are there to come up with something truly unique.” 

Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the CMA CGM Group, adds: "As a leader in transport and logistics, the CMA CGM Group is proud to join forces with a major European carmaker and a leading global truck maker, Renault Group and Volvo Group, to create this new company of electric vans. This is a comprehensive and innovative partnership: not only are we investing in this project, but we will also bring our know-how and expertise to ensure inbound and outbound logistics, while some of these vehicles could ultimately be used to decarbonize our fleet. Through this new investment by our Pulse Fund in electric mobility, we are pursuing our commitment to accelerate the decarbonization of our activity and our sector.”

The Volvo Group is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, employs more than 100,000 people and serves customers in almost 190 markets.