Dive Brief:
- Renault Group has canceled the initial public offering of its electric vehicle and software business Ampere, which was originally scheduled for the first half of 2024, the automaker announced Monday
- The automaker said proceeding with the IPO, which Reuters reported could have valued Ampere up to $11 billion, is not in the best interests of Renault Group, its shareholders or Ampere due to poor market conditions.
- Renault Group said the decision has no impact on its financial guidance or investment strategy.
Dive Insight:
Renault announced its Ampere unit in Nov. 2022 to design, engineer, manufacture and market affordable, software-based EVs under the Renault brand. The company developed two dedicated EV platforms for B-segment and C-segment vehicles. Those vehicle segments are estimated to become 75% of the EV market in Europe by 2030, according to Ampere.
Ampere has operated as an autonomous business unit since Nov 1, 2023. Renault Group added that it would continue to fund Ampere until the unit breaks even in 2025.
“By setting up a 100% focused EV and software business, we built in record time an agile and competitive entity,” said Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo in a statement. “Today, we took a pragmatic decision. We are all focused on executing our strategy and building our track record to create value for all our stakeholders.”
The automaker said Ampere remains committed to its previous strategy, which includes reducing EV costs by 40%, developing software-defined vehicles and ramping up an EV production ecosystem in Europe.
