Renault was established in France in 1899. After the First World War (1914-1918), Renault started car export. Renaults were introduced in China in the 1920s. We show you the activities of Renault in China, over a hundred years, from then till now.
Early years.
These two pictures were made in the early 1920s, showing several chassis+engine Renaults, probably on the road to a coachbuilder. I don´t know when or where the pictures were taken.
At the 1921 Shanghai Auto Show, Auto Palace showed a Renault 18/25hp with an Auto Palace body.
Also in Shanghai, the Grand Garage Français was Renault agent.
Over the following years, there was some import.
Berliet.
In 1978, Renault bought the truck company Berliet, and that included the Chinese contracts of Berliet.
After the purchase, it only came to one product in relation to China, the Renault EQD142 in 1985. This is a Dongfeng EQ140 with a Renault 797 diesel engine, 5491cc, 6-cylinder, 133hp. The truck was especially made for the African market.
The R19.
In June 1984, Renault showed BJC (Beijing Jeep Corporation) the possibility of producing the Renault R9 in China. At that time, Renault was a partner of American Motors (AMC), which had just started the BJC. There was no follow-up.
“From June 1–2, 1984, our company (BJC) and the French Renault Company jointly held an introduction/presentation event for the “R-9” automobile at the International Club. Comrade Zhang Peng, Vice Mayor of Beijing, along with responsible officials from the State Bureau of Materials, the Tourism Bureau, China National Automotive Industry Corporation, and the Beijing Municipal Planning Commission, attended the event.” (thanks Tycho, for the translation).
The Sanjiang Renault joint venture.
Renault nearly missed local car production with a joint venture partner in the 1990s. French Citroën-Peugeot had a joint venture with Dongfeng in 1992, and Volkswagen has been in China since 1984.
Renault found the Sanjiang Space Group, a small aeronautical company in the Hubei provincial city Xiaogan, 40km from Wuhan, for a joint-venture partner. Not one of the big fishes, like SAIC, Dongfeng, or FAW. The venture was signed in 1993 and named SRAC (Sanjiang Renault Automobile Corporation). Production of the Renault Trafic small bus started in 1995. Production ended in August 2002. The total number of cars made was 4906.
Besides the Trafic small bus, there was a very limited assembly (SKD) of the Renault Espace III. In China, the car was called the Sanjiang Renault Trafic RXE2.0 or the Trafic T5EHA, but the name Espace was still at the rear.
The Renault Scenic
And then an attempt to assemble a Renault was made by the Beijing Automotive Group Company in 1999. It was the Renault Scenic, of which we described the project earlier.
The Taiwanese Renault Express project.
Another initiative of assembling Renault products was the idea to assemble the Taiwanese-made Renault Express (Honglong) in the Mainland.
Brochure Hunan Huanyu Auto Co. Ltd. (thanks to 3Star4WD).
In 2001, several companies were interested, like the Beijing Municipality Pinggu County Wangxinzhuang Town Economic Union Corporation or the Hunan Huanyu Automobile Co. Ltd. Assembly. Whenever the assembly took place, it must have been very limited, as we have never seen a Renault Express in China.
The Baolong plan.
In 2004, the Baolong company in Guangzhou announced the purchase of the Matra property rights for the production of the Renault Espace III. Baolong had financial problems in 2005, and that was probably the reason that Baolong never produced the Espace.
The Dongfeng-Renault joint venture.
Renault could finally find its important and promising partner, Dongfeng,
in 2013 the negotiations started. Sanjiang had stopped Trafic production already in 2002. Negotiating with Dongfeng (Wuhan only 40kms away from Sanjiangs home city Xiaogan) was logical and successful. In 2016 the facility became operational.
The first products made in Wuhan were the Dongfeng Renault Kadjar and the Dongfeng Renault Koleos. These vehicles were based on the South Korean Renault-Samsung models.
Dongfeng Renault Koleos, photo MIIT, 2019.
In 2020, after only 7 years, Renault withdrew from this joint venture. The venture was losing money and had low sales. The covid 19 crisis was not the cause, but it was also not helping.
The question is whether Renault was serious about the Chinese market. The joint venture only sold four models: three gasoline-powered SUVs—the Koleos (2016-2020), Kadjar (2016-2020), and Captur (2019-2020)—and one small electric vehicle—the Renault City KZ-E, made by another joint venture which we describe hereunder.
In a country that was in transition to electric vehicles, the range of internal combustion engine SUVs seems archaic.
The Brilliance Renault.
In 2017, the Renault Brilliance Jinbei Automotive Co., Ltd. (RBJAC) was established. Plans were to launch light commercial vehicles (like the Renault Trafic and Master) and SUVs with Renault technology.
In 2018, the Brilliance Renault Guanjin SUV appeared.
In 2020, Brilliance Group, the Chinese partner in the joint venture, officially went bankrupt. During the bankruptcy reorganization process, the business of some subsidiaries, including Brilliance’s own passenger vehicles, parts, and Brilliance Renault Jinbei, has stalled, and Brilliance Renault Jinbei has also declared bankruptcy.
The Jiangling New Energy.
In 2018, Renault announced it would acquire a “significant” JMEV (Jiangling Motors Electric Vehicles) stake. In July 2019, Renault completed the acquisition of a 50% JMEV stake. JMEV was reorganised as a joint venture.
The Jiangling Renault Yi (GSE) electric car, also named Yichi 05, was shown in 2021. In Europe, it would be sold by Renault as Mobilize Limo. This never happened.
In mid-2023, Renault decided to fully divest its stake in the brand due to poor sales and financial problems.[13]
The Renault City KZ-E.
The Renault City KZ-E is an electric version of the India-made Renault Kwid. The City KZ-E has been made by the eGT New Energy Automotive in Shiyan since 2019. This venture has three partners: Dongfeng, Renault, and Nissan.
The City KZ-E is exported to Europe under the name Dacia Spring Electric and to South America as the Renault Kwid E-Tech. In China, it had several sister models: Venucia e30, Aeolus (Fengshen) EX1, Dongfeng EV EX1, Dongfeng Nano Box, and Forthing T1.
The BeyonCa concept.
The Renault China CEO, Soh Weining, started BeyonCa in 2022. Designer Dirk van Braekel drew a premium 5,2m sedan named BeyonCa GT Opus 1. The car only existed in these drawings; not even a concept prototype was presented. Money from Renault and Dongfeng was involved as an investment.
In March 2026, there were long-term arrears in employee salaries, and the management disappeared. The end of the project.
The recent years show a very sad story of Renault in China. Unsuccessful joint ventures with Sanjiang, Dongfeng, Brilliance, and Jiangling all ended in bankruptcy, heavy losses, and low sales. And finally, Renault lost nearly everything in China, except for the Shiyan production of the Dacia Spring.
Renault has a 100-year-long history in China. Please tell me when you can add or correct things, always welcome!
Thanks, Tycho, for your help!
More to read:
Renault EQD142:
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1854229357803675958&wfr=spider&for=pc
Renault- Sanjiang:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongfeng_Renault
https://de-academic.com/dic.nsf/dewiki/2572661
https://www.carjager.com/blog/article/sanjiang-renault-espace-et-trafic-les-inconnues-chinoises-ou-presque.html?ads=on
Dongfeng Renault:
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%9C%E9%A3%8E%E9%9B%B7%E8%AF%BA/12640886?fr=aladdin