According to insiders, the car manufacturers Renault from France and Geely from China want to win over the state-owned Saudi oil company Aramco as an investor for their engine business. Negotiations are currently underway for Aramco to take over up to 20 percent of a joint venture that Renault and Geely want to set up, said three people familiar with the process.
Documents from the companies seen by Archyde.com show that this company is said to produce more than five million engines a year. Renault and Geely declined to comment; Aramco might not be reached at first.
Two of the insiders said the joint venture – codenamed “Horse” at Renault and “Rubik” at Geely – aims to develop fuel-efficient combustion engines. It was not initially known how much money Aramco might contribute. According to the documents, the oil company’s investment is to be used to develop decarbonization technologies for internal combustion engines. Among other things, this involves synthetic fuels and hydrogen technology. According to one of the insiders, the supervisory bodies of the two car manufacturers still have to approve the entry of the oil company. A memorandum of understanding is currently in the works and might be signed in the coming weeks.
Geely and Renault announced last year that they would set up a joint venture that would employ a total of 19,000 people in 17 plants and three development centers. Two of the insiders said this company may focus on developing four-cylinder engines.