Renault Group plans to fold its electric vehicle and software unit Ampere back into the wider company, reversing a 2023 spin-off as the automaker reassesses its strategy following the collapse of plans to list the business, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Ampere was created in November 2023 as a standalone unit focused on electric cars and software-defined vehicles, employing about 11,000 people, around a third of them engineers. The move transferred Renault’s ElectriCity e-mobility hub in northern France — including vehicle plants in Douai and Maubeuge and a component site in Ruitz — as well as the Cléon powertrain plant, into Ampere’s ownership. The unit also took responsibility for producing electric models such as the Renault 4 and Renault 5, which continued to be sold under the Renault brand, and later opened a software centre near Nice.
The spin-off was championed by former chief executive Luca de Meo, who had sought to bring alliance partners Nissan and Mitsubishi into the venture and push for a rapid initial public offering. Renault postponed the IPO in January 2024 and never rescheduled it. In March 2025, Nissan was released from a planned €600 million investment in Ampere, followed in May by the termination of a €200 million investment agreement with Mitsubishi.
After de Meo left Renault in mid-2025 to join luxury group Kering, his successor François Provost began a review of the company’s structure. He is now expected to reverse the Ampere spin-off, despite having previously backed it, the sources said. With the withdrawal of Nissan and Mitsubishi, Ampere is already fully owned by Renault, easing the path to reintegration.
The move is intended to simplify the organisation, cut costs and speed up execution, the sources said. “As there is no longer an IPO, there is no longer a need for a specific entity, which is why Renault is reintegrating everything in order to simplify and eliminate the complexity inherent in the initial model,” one of the people told Reuters.
Under the plan, Ampere would continue as a development hub for Renault’s electric vehicles and software, while the vehicle and component plants transferred in 2023 would once again become direct subsidiaries of the Renault Group.
The decision would mark the second major strategic reversal under Provost. In December, he halted the Mobilize car-sharing business and reintegrated the previously independent unit and its remaining activities back into Renault.