Although Renault's performance in the Chinese market is not good, but in the global market, especially in Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East and other regions, sales are still good, in 2023, Renault Group's revenue will be 52.4 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 13.1%, and the operating profit margin will reach a record high of 7.9%, about 4.1 billion euros.
Last year, Geely Automobile's revenue was 179.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21%, a record high, and the net profit attributable to the parent company exceeded 5.3 billion yuan. Although Geely still has a big gap compared with Renault, a multinational car giant, from the perspective of development trends, Geely has the momentum to catch up with its predecessors. In fact, Geely is not only booming in the field of new energy, which has made the global market more and more concerned, but also in the field of traditional fuel vehicles, Geely is also quite well received, and its Xingyue L has even become the original model of Renault's "shell" new car.
Why is Renault's new car a Geely Xingyue L shell change?
Renault recently unveiled the new Grand Koleos for the Korean market, which will be scheduled for production at Renault's plant in Busan, South Korea. The appearance of the new car looks very fashionable as a French car, but in fact, this is a product jointly developed by Geely and Renault, more specifically, the big Koleos and Geely Xingyue L share the platform, whether it is the design elements or the powertrain, it makes people feel very familiar, so we say that the Renault big Koleos is a shell of Geely Xingyue L.
In terms of appearance, the dot matrix grille of the big Koleos is very individual, and the double-row three-segment LED lights on both sides of the headlights are no different from the Xingyue L, and the horizontal taillights at the rear are almost identical. What is even more familiar is the cockpit in the car, nearly a meter long IMAX triple screen, three-spoke multi-function steering wheel, yacht-style gear lever, central control armrest near the co-pilot side, and even the air conditioning outlet, central control buttons, knobs and other designs are also the same, the only difference is probably the brand logo in the center of the steering wheel. One of the features of the big Koleos is that the new car offers a special version of Alpine, which gives more domineering 20-inch wheels on the outside, and an exclusive badge logo, the cabin is made of Alcantara material, and the seats not only have the Alpine logo, but also the small decoration of the French red, white and blue tricolor flag on the shoulders.
Geely's partnership with Renault
Geely and Renault have actually established a partnership for a long time. In the summer of 2021, Geely signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Renault to establish an innovative partnership aimed at sharing resources and technologies in the hybrid field, with China and South Korea as the key markets. In 2022, Geely, through its subsidiary CIL, acquired a stake in Renault in South Korea, and based on Geely Automobile's CMA architecture and Leishen Power hybrid technology, Geely will produce and sell Renault-branded gasoline and hybrid vehicles in South Korea and export them to markets outside South Korea.
In the same year, Renault officially announced a joint venture with Geely to launch a powertrain technology company, and in May this year, the joint venture company HORSE Powertrain Limited was officially established, which can meet 80% of the global hybrid and fuel-powered vehicle market demand, and provide services for Geely, Renault, Volvo, Proton, Nissan, Mitsubishi and other brands.
Renault's big Koleos is from the Geely Xingyue L sharing platform, and is related to Geely and Volvo in terms of pedigree, and the high emotional intelligence is to bring together global superior technical resources, Nordic technology, oriental aesthetics, French romance, etc. But in essence, comparing this car with Xingyue L, you can find that in addition to the same cabin design, the power system is also 2.0T+7DCT and 1.5T+3DHT hybrid, and there is nothing wrong with saying that TA is Xingyue L shell change.
Chinese brands go global
Some netizens changed the logo of Xingyue L to Volvo before, and found that there was no sense of disobedience, and now the front face has become Renault, which is also very stylish. From the past China's special supply, domestic cars to shell joint venture cars, to the current Chinese brand to the world, become a foreign brand "prototype", is indeed a proud new change. From the earliest refrigerator business, to entering the field of motorcycles and automobiles, from independent sales to global acquisitions of Volvo, Lotus, Daimler, Aston Martin, etc., Geely has become a shining business card of Chinese automobiles. It is believed that with the development of the new energy industry, there will be more and more Chinese brands, or joint ventures or new shells and brands, to the global market.