Renault’s new EV spin-off valued at up to $10.5 billion

It’s official: Renault has announced that it is targeting November 1, 2023, as the day it will separate its new EV unit Ampere from the rest of the company as a first step in the run-up to the initial public offering.

The company has set November 15 as the date of its investor day, with Renault CEO Luca de Meo valuing the new EV business unit at up to €10 billion ($10.47 billion).

Renault will list the new company in the spring of 2024.

Last year Renault first debuted the idea of splitting off its EV business from ICE vehicles with a draw to bring in 10,000 new employees this year, and a fresh new business model “adapted to the specificities of electric vehicles and would be able to forge partnerships in new technologies and services,” according to a statement from Renault.

In late November last year, the company announced its new division Ampère, named after French physicist and mathematician André-Marie Ampère. Renault announced too that it is reorganizing itself into five different units, including EVs, ICE assets, Alpine sports-car brand, financial services, and new mobility and recycling businesses.

The motivation behind the split is to (no surprise) add value to Renault’s electric business, and particularly to attract Telsa-like valuations while phasing out ICE sales in the coming years. Renault plans to go purely electric by 2030 – and with the French government holding a 15% stake in the company, keeping its high-profile EV business in the country is essential, with the t­andem goal of relocating the combustion division outside of France.

The business so far will offer up Renault’s top-selling Mégane E-Tech. However European price cuts from Telsa could likely cut into future demand, and Renault is moving fast to offer up budget models Renault 5 and 4 coming up soon, in addition to the the Scénic Vision.

Back in July, Renault’s longtime alliance partner Nissan confirmed its plan to invest up to $663 million in Ampere after “high-level discussions calling for a more balanced cross-shareholding between the two automakers,” according to a report. The Japanese carmaker will also gain a seat on the board.