Renault Type EU Coup de Ville, page #24

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Renault COO Tavares dreams of running GM or Ford

What do you do if you're in a job with no upward mobility? Admittedly, most of us just stick it out while secretly hoping our boss is sacked for all those paperclips he's been swiping, netting us a nice, shiny promotion. Then again, most of us aren't the number two at Renault, like Carlos Tavares.
Tavares is the right-hand man to Renault CEO, Carlos Ghosn, and like a lot of us, he's ready for another challenge. As Ghosn is only 59 years old and doesn't have a boss to fire him for paperclip theft, though, it's pretty unlikely that he'll be going anywhere anytime soon. Tavares doesn't seem too concerned, based on an interview he gave to Automotive News. "We have a big leader and he is here to stay," Tavares told AN.
What's surprising is where Tavares wants to go, "Why not GM? I would be honored to lead a company like GM." The Renault exec also mentioned Ford, and as AN points out, both organizations make a lot of sense. Both are led by CEOs that are approaching or are already past retirement age, and should be looking for dedicated replacements in the not-so-distant future. That doesn't mean Tavares is a shoe-in, though.

Renault promises new concept car and Dacia Duster in Frankfurt

Renault and Dacia will be headed to the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in a big way, with a new concept car from the French company and an all-new Duster from its Romanian budget brand. The new concept is particularly exciting, as Renault's press release mentions a "new brand identity." We can also count on this car being a bit higher on the luxury scale than Renault's traditional offerings.
Dacia's new Duster will have big shoes to fill when it hits the spotlights of Frankfurt. The current Duster (pictured), a small, handsomely rugged CUV, was introduced in 2010, and has been a critical hit in Great Britain, Russia, and India (where it's called the Renault Duster). It's also been a smash with customers, becoming Renault's best-selling global model.
Both the new Duster and Renault's latest concept will hit the stage in Frankfurt on September 10.

Renault-Nissan zero-emissions car sales whir past 100,000 [w/video]

The electric vehicle has gone gold at Renault-Nissan, clocking 100,000 sales in a three-year period that began with the first Nissan Leaf being sold in Silicon Valley, California in 2010. Since then, the Leaf has become the EV champion of the world, selling more than 71,000 units so far, the majority of those in the US. The 100,000th EV sold by the Alliance was also a Leaf and also sold in the US, but on the other side of the country, in Georgia.
By comparison, Renault has sold 30,000 electric vehicles since late 2011, looking after other segments of the EV market with the Kangoo Z.E., Zoe, Twizy and Fluence Z.E. The alliance estimates that its efforts have been driven 5.2 million ion-powered miles and saved 14 million gallons of oil since they appeared. For a bit of sobering context, the US averaged 18.83 million barrels of oil per day in 2011, which is almost 791 million gallons. Per day.
So we're getting there, albeit slowly. Quietly. There's a press release and a video below with more details on the achievement.

Renault Alpine mule captured wearing Lotus duds

A curious, heavily modified Lotus Exige has been spotted lapping the Nürburgring, and, to hear our spy shooters tell it, the car is actually a disguised Renault Alpine A110-50 out chassis testing with Swedish suspension company Öhlins. It was spotted in the company of several key performance cars from Renault Sport, including the Megane RS and Clio. These spy photos confirm that Renault is serious about making the Alpine a production reality and suggests that it needed more than its alliance with Nissan to help foot the development bills.
Caterham became Renault's partner in this venture last year, and rumors have suggested that this Lotus-disguised Alpine will be mid-engined, with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine offering about 1.6 liters of displacement and making around 270 horsepower.
We have reported in the past that Renault, Infiniti and Lotus were developing a gas-electric hybrid together, and the Renault version could become the Alpine (with Lotus building the production versions of all three cars), but we don't truly know what the future holds for Renault's reborn performance division.

Caterham chairman confirms plans for Renault-based Evoque rival

Caterham will be radically expanding beyond its core market of track-day specials with a new Renault-based CUV and city car. Following our initial reports back in November, the new models, which we can only hope are as ridiculously sporty as Caterham's other offerings, have been confirmed by Chairman Tony Fernandes to news agency Reuters.
Destined for Asian markets in 2016, the new offerings are to be based on Renault platforms, although the particular models aren't mentioned. Partially completed vehicles will be shipped to Asia, where assembly will be finished. This news follows the initial collaboration between Caterham and Renault for a new sports car, which will wear an Alpine badge. According to Fernandes, "Sports cars will do well but the city car and SUV are what the (Asian) market really wants. If we get the SUV right it will be huge."
Details about the SUV (read: crossover) are scarce, but the success of the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque was mentioned as an influence to get into the high-riding business. Given that vehicle's size, we wouldn't be surprised to see it based on the new Renault Captur (shown), and the city car modeled on the Twingo.

Renault-Nissan debuts new Common Module Family for future vehicles

Platform sharing is nothing new for the 14-year-old Renault-Nissan Alliance, but this partnership is set to introduce new modular platform components that will eventually underpin 11 Renault models and three Nissan vehicles by 2020. Rather than being a typical platform, the Common Module Family (CMF) actually represents five segments of a platform that can be used in various applications, and one of the first vehicles to use this architecture will be the 2014 Nissan Rogue (spy shots of which are shown below) when it arrives "in late 2013."
As pictured in the image above (click to expand), CMF is composed of four chassis component, principally the front underbody, rear underbody, engine bay and cockpit as well as a common electrical system. Besides the next-gen Rogue, future Nissan models to share CMF will include the Qashqai and X-Trail, while Renault models will start using the platform next year on vehicles including the Scénic and Laguna. The CMF architecture is expected to help the Alliance reduce the parts cost of a vehicle by up to 30 percent and reduce the entry cost by up to 40 percent. The official press release with more details about CMF, and what it means for Renault-Nissan, is posted below.

Daimler consulting with Ford about 3-cylinder engines

Soon enough, Ford will offer its 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder engine under the hood of the Fiesta here in the United States, building on the success of the small powerplant overseas. In fact, this success has caused other automakers to take notice, and according to Automotive News Europe, Daimler is now talking to Ford about this engine for use in its own products.
In other markets, Ford offers the 1.0-liter mill under the hood of the Focus (we had the chance to sample this package on our home turf), as well as the B-Max MPV. For this new collaboration, Daimler would use the turbo-three in the next-generation Smart ForTwo, as well as the Renault Twingo, which the German automaker will be collaborating on as part of its alliance with Renault-Nissan. Speaking to AN, a Mercedes-Benz engineer called the 1.0-liter mill an "interesting and impressive engine."
In exchange for details about the EcoBoost inline-three, Daimler will supply Ford with information regarding its Euro6 stratified lean-burn gasoline engine, which is found in the new E-Class sedan.

Renault unveiling Twin'Run concept in Monaco [w/video]

During last year's Monaco Formula One Grand Prix weekend, Renault introduced us to the Alpine A110-50. This year, it's another revival called Twin'Run - the follow up to the Twin'Z but not called TwinFun, as we previously thought - a smooth blue hatch to update all those yellowed memories of the Renault R5 Turbo and Clio V6. With the same footprint as the Twin'Z, this is the other side of the 'play' theme in Renault's six-stage exploration of the stages of life through concept cars.
The Twin'Z is admittedly a neat piece of work, but the Twin'Run one - and its murderous exhaust note - has our hot breath all over it. A steel, tubular chassis provides the structure. Within it, just ahead of the rear axle is a 3.5-liter V6 with 320 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, shifted through a six-speed sequential transmission. To keep its city-car proportions stable on 18-inch wheels, the fuel tank, radiator and hydraulic system are in the front, under the hood, resulting in a 43/57 front-to-rear weight balance.
The bodywork is a mix of glass fiber and carbon fiber, the squarish headlamps and supplemental quad headlamps a nod to the R5 Turbo rally car and its light rack for nighttime stages. Inside is lots of black and red Alcantara, a gauge cluster wrapped in white lacquer and aluminum pedals whose setup is said to be motorsports tested.

Renault and Red Bull Racing team up for awesome sports Megane [w/video]

The Renault Mégane R.S. Red Bull Racing RB8 is a special edition hatchback celebrating the company's third year in a row powering Infiniti Red Bull Racing to the Formula One Constructor's Championship. The French carmaker did the same thing last year with the Megane R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7, but whereas last year's model came in the black and yellow livery associated with Renault factory racing teams, this one hews closer to Infiniti Red Bull colors, with an exclusive Crépuscule Blue finish and platinum gray accents.
Other signs as to the hatchack's purpose are the Red Bull logos on the rear quarter panels, the badging on the sills and inside and the laurel stickers on the rear windows. Helping fulfill the buyer's need for speed are a set of 19-inch black wheels shod in the same Bridgestone rubber that got the Megane around the Nürburgring in record time for a production front-wheel-drive car. The car also includes the first use of Renault's new R-Link multimedia tablet and the second generation of the R.S. Monitor.
It will go on sale in 26 countries that sadly fail to include ours. Its arrival in French dealerships is slated for June at a starting price of 36,000 euro ($46,445 US, taxes included), and it will be withdrawn from sale on September 30, 2013 to make good on its limited-edition promise. There's more on it in the press release and video below.

Daimler, Renault talking about large van joint venture

Daimler and Renault officially joined hands in April 2010. Since then, Nissan has agreed to build engines for the Germans, Daimler is expected to construct a plant near the Nissan plant in Mexico, the Smart ForFour and Renault Twingo will share platforms and electric siblings and the same Renault manufacturing facility, and Mercedes is supposedly considering a Renault-based X-Class vehicle to slot between Smart and the A-Class. Not bad for less than three years' work.
But wait, there's more. According to a report in Automotive News, the two firms are talking about developing a large van. When it comes to big cargo haulers, Mercedes is in bed with Volkswagen at the moment, but the contract has just three more years to run and VW has announced its intention to go solo on the next-generation van.
This wouldn't be the first commercial vehicle tie-up for the brands: Mercedes already uses the Renault Kangoo as the base for its Citan. Both Daimler and Renault have confirmed the talks, but have not confirmed a French newspaper report that the manufacturing site has already been chosen in France.