Renault Trucks is a French commercial truck manufacturer with corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it has been a subsidiary of Volvo since 2001.
From its beginnings in 1978 to 2002, the company was called Renault Véhicules Industriels (Renault Industrial Vehicles), from 1992 on officially written as RenaultV.I.. Until 2002, Renault Véhicules Industriels also manufactured buses.
History
Renault first began building dedicated commercial trucks in 1906.[6] In 1956, however Renault stopped producing trucks and buses under its own name. Instead, the company Saviem was formed as a subsidiary of their own commercial products with the manufacturers Somua and Latil.[2] Lighter commercials kept on using the Renault name, however. From 1957 on, Saviem was also used as the brand name for the trucks and buses produced by the company.
As a result of French industrial policy, in 1975 state-owned Renault also acquired the truck and bus manufacturer Berliet from Citroën[7] (at that time a part of the Michelin corporation). In 1978, Berliet and Saviem were merged to form Renault Véhicules Industriels. Again, the old brand names were retained for two more years while the model lineups were gradually incorporated, until in 1980 they were replaced by the name Renault.
Renault Midliner with Club of Four cab, late 1990s model
In 1971, Saviem became a member of the Euro Truck Development Group or Club of Four, a cooperation between four European truck producers (Saviem, Volvo, DAF and Magirus-Deutz, which soon after became a part of Iveco) for the production of medium-sized trucks. Since 1975 the truck models resulting from this cooperation were built by Saviem[8] and later Renault, even until 2001. They were also sold on the North American market as the Mack Mid-Liner or Manager.
In 1978, PSA Group bought Chrysler's European operations.[9] Included in the deal were commercial vehicle operations in the UK and Spain, which at that time used the brand name Dodge. PSA however sold them on to RVI in 1983, having itself little interest in the commercial vehicle market.[10] The newly acquired operations in the UK had their origins in the commercial vehicle branch of the Rootes Group which originally carried the brand names Karrier and Commer.[11] Some of the models built there were continued in production for several years by RVI in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, who also kept the Dodge brand name for these models, albeit in combination with the Renault badge. In 1988 the company was subject to a Fire Brigades Union inquiry due to eight Dodge fire engines involved in crashes.[12] Until 1992 the UK division was known as Renault Truck Industries, after which it then took the international Renault V.I. name.
Revised branding introduced in late 2022 as seen on the grille of a Renault Trucks C E-Tech (or E-Tech C). It is similar to the one introduced earlier by the related Renault brand.
In Spain, however, where Renault already was recognized as a local automobile producer, the Dodge trucks, which originally had been developed by the manufacturer Barreiros Diesel,[13] were rebadged as Renaults and soon after replaced by French-designed models.
In 1987, Renault Véhicules Industriels took over from its parent company Renault a 42% stake in the American manufacturer Mack Trucks[14] which became a fully owned subsidiary of Renault Véhicules Industriels in 1990.[15]
In 1991, RVI purchased a 37.5% shareholding in French bodybuilder Heuliez Bus.[16][17] In 1994, RVI purchased a 34% stake in the Czech bus manufacturer Karosa, increasing its ownership to a majority 51% in 1996 and 96% in 2000.[18] In 1997 RenaultV.I. entered into a cooperation agreement with the Finnish truck producer Sisu. In 2002 the company signed a deal with the Chinese company Dongfeng Motor to manufacture engines.[19]
Renault Trucks took part in the FIA European Championship, running Renault Premium powered by 13-litre DXi13 engines. The Renault Trucks-MKR Technology team won in 2010.
Also, the Uruguayan plant of cars owned by Nordex S.A. in Uruguay has made since 2004 the Renault Trucks models like Midlum series.[20]
The Volvo Group invested about €2billion to develop a new line of Renault Trucks vehicles (C, D, K, T) which were introduced through 2013 replacing the previous models.[21]
Changes of ownership
As part of Renault's restructuring following privatisation in 1996, the heavy vehicles operations of bus and truck were divested. In 1999, the Renault and Karosa bus and coach operations were split off from Renault Véhicules Industriels and merged with Fiat-Iveco's bus and coach operations to form the jointly owned subsidiary Irisbus.[18] In 2003, Irisbus became a full subsidiary of Iveco and the brand Renault on its products was replaced by the brand Irisbus.
In April 2000, Renault agreed to terms with Volvo to purchase its truck manufacturing business with Volvo in turn to relinquish its 15% shareholding in Renault and Renault buy a 20% shareholding in Volvo.[22][23] The transaction which included Mack Trucks, but not Renault's stake in Irisbus, was completed on 2 January 2001. RVI was renamed Renault Trucks in 2002.[24] In October 2010 Renault reduced its shareholding in Volvo to 5%.[25] In December 2012, Renault sold its remaining shares in Volvo.[26]
Military vehicles
The Renault Trucks Defense division is wholly owned by Renault Trucks and is based in Versailles, France. It trades on its 1975 acquisition of Berliet and claims to have over 30,000 vehicles in use around the world.[27] Its status as the leading supplier to the French Army was put in jeopardy in 2010 when the government placed a $214m order to Italian competitor Iveco.[28] In 2016, Volvo announced its intention of divesting Renault Trucks Defense, as part of the selling of its Government Sales division.[29]
It manufactures a range of special vehicles aimed at the defense and security markets, including the Sherpa, VAB armoured personnel carrier, the AMC armoured multirole carrier and Kerax ranges.
In 2006 Renault Trucks took over ACMAT, but the defence and security vehicle manufacturer retained its own name and identity.
On 24 May 2018, Renault Trucks Defense was renamed as Arquus.[30]
Products
Current products
Renault Trucks TRenault Trucks D
Delivery range
Renault Trucks Master (rebadged,[31] Renault-built vehicle sold by Renault Trucks dealerships under a special agreement)[32]
Renault Trucks Trafic (rebadged, Renault-built vehicle sold by Renault Trucks dealerships under a special agreement) [31]
Renault SC10, initially sold as the Saviem SC10 from 1965, and then in 1981 it was upgraded to the Renault SC10R when the distinctive curved front window was lost. The SC10U, and its replacement SC10RA featured the unique open rear deck.[35]
Renault Tracer, replaced by Renault Arés in 2000 and renamed Irisbus Arés in 2001
Former coaches models
Renault E7, originally launched as the Saviem E7 in 1969
Renault PR14, originally launched in 1974 as the Berliet Crusair
Renault PR80S, derived from the Renault PR100
Renault S-Series coach was marketed as Renault (such as the Renault S45), Saviem and Saviem-Chausson during its production period of 1977 to 1993[36]
Renault FR1, sold for a short time in the US as Mack FR1. Facelifted and renamed Renault Iliade in 1997
The Volvo Group is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of trucks, buses and construction equipment, Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems and financial services. In 2016, it was the world's second-largest manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks with its subsidiary Volvo Trucks.
Mack Trucks, Inc. is an American truck manufacturing company and a former manufacturer of buses and trolley buses. Founded in 1900 as the Mack Brothers Company, it manufactured its first truck in 1905 and adopted its present name in 1922. Since 2000, Mack Trucks has been a subsidiary of Volvo, which purchased Mack and its former parent company Renault Véhicules Industriels.
Berliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, buses, trucks and military vehicles among other vehicles based in Vénissieux, outside of Lyon, France. Founded in 1899, and apart from a five-year period from 1944 to 1949 when it was put into 'administration sequestre' it was in private ownership until 1967 when it then became part of Citroën, and subsequently acquired by Renault in 1974 and merged with Saviem into a new Renault Trucks company in 1978. The Berliet marque was phased out by 1980.
ACMAT is a French manufacturer of cross-country and tactical military vehicles since 1958. Known for their reliability, simplicity, ruggedness and their 80% commonality of parts across the entire product line, these vehicles were originally targeted at African and Asian countries who could not afford more expensive vehicles. The ACMAT company built their vehicles based on standardisation, commonality of parts and components, and on interchangeability; parts are interchangeable with vehicles built 30 years ago. Parts commonality includes cabs, structural components, engines and drive trains. ACMAT uses many of the same parts for all of its line of vehicles. They even produce an armoured variant of both the 4x4 and 6x6 versions of the VLRA.
The Société Anonyme de Véhicules Industriels et d'Équipements Mécaniques, commonly known by the acronym Saviem, was a French manufacturer of trucks and buses/coaches part of the Renault group, headquartered in Suresnes, Île-de-France. The company was established in 1955 by merging Renault heavy vehicle operations with Somua and Latil and disappeared in 1978 when was merged with former rival Berliet to form Renault Véhicules Industriels.
Iveco Bus is a bus manufacturer with headquarters in Turin. Iveco Bus is now only a brand division of IVECO which is a company incorporated under Dutch law and listed on Borsa Italiana.
The Sherpa Light is a family of 4x4 tactical and light armored vehicles developed by French company Renault Trucks Defense (RTD). Available in unarmoured or armoured variants, the Scout is suited for tactical missions such as scouting, patrol, convoy escort and command and liaison. It is able to transport up to 4 or 5 soldiers or a total payload of up to 4 tonnes.
The Berliet VXB-170 is a four-wheel armoured vehicle used primarily as an internal security vehicle. Developed and initially produced by Berliet until Berliet was merged with Saviem to form Renault Trucks, it lost to the Saviem VAB the competition to equip the French Army, even though it was cheaper than its competitor. Production stopped after fewer than 200 vehicles had been produced.
The Irisbus Agora was a low-floor bus designed and built by Renault from 1995 to 2002, the date upon which it has been built by Irisbus, firstly a joint-venture with FIAT subsidiary IVECO from 1999, with Iveco engines. It has also been built by Czech-based Karosa under the Citybus name as a diesel-powered bus, Skoda as a trolleybus in Eastern European markets as the Škoda 24Tr Irisbus and Škoda 25Tr Irisbus, and by the Romanian-based Astra Bus.
Automobiles Industriels Latil, commonly known as Latil, was a French manufacturer of commercial and military vehicles created to manage the assets of the defunct Compagnie Française d'Mecánique et d'Automobiles, to market Georges Latil's avant-train Latil, an early front-wheel drive system. The company was established in 1909 by entrepreneur Charles Blum as Charles Blum & Cie. It started to use Automobiles Industriels Latil in the 1910s as a trading name. The company started to produce military vehicles by the 1910s and commercial ones in great numbers by the end of World War I. In 1928, the company adopted its trading name as its legal name. It was dissolved in 1955 after being merged into the Saviem group.
Karosa was a bus manufacturer in Vysoké Mýto in the Czech Republic. It was the biggest manufacturer of buses in Czechoslovakia. In 2007 its name was changed to Iveco Czech Republic, and now the company produces buses under the name Iveco Bus.
Heuliez Bus is a French limited company, former part of the Henri Heuliez Group. It was formed in 1979. It is an Iveco Group brand and is specialized in manufacturing buses and coaches.
The Renault PR100 was a French full-size step-entrance single-decker bus chassis built and marketed originally by Berliet from 1971, and sold as a Renault following the merging of Berliet into Renault Véhicules Industriels.
The Club of Four was an alliance of four European truck manufacturers: Saviem, Volvo, DAF, and Magirus-Deutz.
The Société de Véhicules Automobiles de Batilly (SoVAB) is a subsidiary of the French car manufacturer Renault, created in 1980 to operate the light commercial vehicle plant located at Batilly.
The Saviem J was a range of medium-duty trucks manufactured by the French manufacturers Saviem and Renault Véhicules Industriels between 1975 and 1980.
The Saviem H was a range of medium/heavy trucks manufactured by the French manufacturers Saviem and Renault Véhicules Industriels between 1977 and 1980.
The Renault Super Goélette is a van from the small commercial vehicle range manufactured by Saviem and marketed by Renault from 1965 to 1970, then from 1971 to 1980 by Saviem and finally by Renault Véhicules Industriels (RVI) between 1980 and 1982.
The Berliet GR and TR was a family of heavy trucks manufactured by Berliet in two generations; the original design was first introduced in 1961 and the second generation, using the all-new square KB 2400 cabin, was introduced at the 1970 Paris Salon. The Berliet brands were retired in April 1980; the GR/TR was replaced by a facelifted version of the KB 2400 cab called the Renault R-series.
1 2 Carroll, John; Davies, Peter James (2007). Complete Book Tractors and Trucks. Hermes House. pp.66–67. ISBN978-1-843-09689-4.
↑ Kolodziej, Edward A. (1983). "France". In Ball, Nicole; Leitenberg, Milton (eds.). The Structure of the Defense Industry: An International Survey. Routledge. p.85. ISBN0-7099-1611-6.
↑ Carroll, John; Davies, Peter James (2007). p. 59.
↑ Davies, Peter J. (2001). An Illustrated A-Z of World Trucks: A Directory of Classic and Contemporary Trucks Around the Globe. Southwater Publishing. p.169. ISBN1-842-15459-1.
↑ Flory, J. (2011). "Appendices". American Cars, 1973–1980: Every Model, Year by Year. McMillan. pp.892–893. ISBN978-0-7864-4352-9.
1 2 Pavlínek, Petr (2008). "Restructuring of the Czech Commercial Vehicle Industry". A Successful Transformation?: Restructuring of the Czech Automobile Industry. Contributions to Economics. Springer Publishing. p.151. ISBN978-3-7908-2039-3.
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€5.73 billion (2022) [5] 
€120.1 million (2022) [5] 
