Renault

Renault uses several levers to encourage suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and supply low-carbon products. It has signed up to CDP’s 2021 Science-Based Targets Campaign which requests that its suppliers in the high-impact sample also set science-based targets. Supplier programs to decrease emissions cover 88% of total procurement spend (76% of suppliers by number). The Ecovadis platform is applied to evaluate new and current suppliers. Renault conducts lifecycle assessment (LCA) to identify which supply areas to prioritise.

Renault currently does not disclose information on the proportions of its R&D spend by technology area and it does not share information on the profitability, size, growth potential and deployment scheduling of its new low-carbon business models. There is opportunity for Renault to more clearly demonstrate its financial commitment to its 1.5°C pathway via more transparency on these issues.

In March 2021, Renault officially joined the list of companies committed to the Science Based Targets Initiative’s “Business Ambition for 1.5° initiative”. The current 2030 targets to decrease in-use and manufacturing emissions intensity do not align to its 1.5°C pathway. There is opportunity for the company to use its SBTi engagement to improve these targets. The company can also improve its targeting by setting longer time horizon targets, at intervals no great than five years, to cover the regionally weighted average lifetimes of its sold vehicles.

Renault launched two new global advertising campaigns on its ZOE model (fully electric) in early 2021. It also launched its ReNew campaign to promote uptake of reconditioned used cars. Previous promotions include a ‘DisCO2unt Billboard’ campaign in Bucharest, Romania. This tied the car price to air pollution levels in the city. Displayed in real-time on a digital billboard, the price dropped when pollution levels were higher. The company can improve its client engagement by avoiding all discounts for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. The ZOE campaign is undermined by discounted sales in India for the Triber, Duster & Kwid (all ICE).

The company’s “Renaulution” plan places environmental and societal strategy at its heart. It plans to decrease in-use emissions by 50% from 2019 levels by 2030 and to decrease manufacturing emissions by 60%. It plans for a 90% low-carbon vehicle share in sales by 2030 in Europe, its largest market.

Power trains with be rationalised from 8 to 4 core families (2 EV & hydrogen, 1 diesel and 1 petrol) and 79% of the 24 new models for launch by 2025 will be electrified or fully electric. The company will focus on circular economy practices.

In 2020, 5.8% of sales were low-carbon vehicles. The company spent USD 2.7 billion in 2020 on R&D with the majority spent on development of new low-emissions vehicles, powertrains and batteries as well as light weighting, use of recycled materials and development of battery services.

Changes in the sales mix bring overall in-use emissions intensity of sold vehicles to 80.9 grams CO2 per passenger kilometre in 2020 (higher than in 2015 and higher than in 2018). However, the share of low-carbon vehicles in sales has increased from 1.4% in 2018 to 5.8% in 2020.

Rebalancing the vehicle portfolio from smaller to medium and larger car sizes could act as a brake on decarbonisation of the fleet. Planned hybrid, natural gas and LPG technology deployment could lock-in fossil fuel technologies within the total group.