French automobile manufacturer Renault Group has signed an agreement with Chinese automotive group Geely Holding Group to launch a new collaboration aimed at manufacturing fuel-efficient hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and internal combustion engine (ICE) models to the South Korean market and for export sales as well.

The new vehicles from the partnership will be manufactured at the Renault-Samsung Motors (RSM) facility located in Busan, South Korea. Production of the HEVs is expected to commence in 2024.

According to Renault Group, the collaboration is the next step in efforts by the two automobile manufacturers in coming up with low-emission models apart from expanding their penetration in the Asian HEV markets.

The new HEVs will use the compact modular architecture (CMA) developed by Geely’s research and development center in Sweden apart from leveraging the company’s advanced hybrid powertrain technologies.

Eric Li — Chairperson of Geely said: “Geely has a proven track record in creating mutually beneficial collaborations that focus on technology, experience and shared ideas with the ultimate goal of creating higher quality, more sustainable products. We are looking forward to working with Renault and realizing new synergies that combine strengths from both parties to create value for the end user.”

Renault and Renault-Samsung Motors will chip in with their know-how in design and customer experience, while offering the latest technologies to meet and surpass local market expectations.

Luca de Meo — CEO of Renault Group said: “We are happy to initiate such an innovative partnership with Geely Group, which has impressive track record in Automotive Industry. Through this project, Geely Holding and Renault Group pave the way to pursue 20 years of successful RSM journey and contribution to the South-Korean industry.”

  Busan, electric vehicles, Eric Li, Geely, hybrid electric vehicles, Luca de Meo, Renault Group, Renault-Samsung Motors, South Korea