Pickup Trucks

Louis Renault was born in 1877. The youngest of five he had a very priviledged childhood and developed an interest in mechanics very early on in life. It was in a garden shed that the young Louis began his first workshop.

By the age of 20 he converted his tricycle into a four wheeled car and added his new invention, the very first gear box.

His 2 brothers Fernand and Marcel set up the Renault Brothers company in 1899.

It was through motor racing that the brothers became famous with Louis and Marcel doing the racing. They won several races one of the most important of which was the Paris to Vienna race won by Marcel in 1902.

Their sales in cars accelerated rapidly and they were sold at 3,000 francs each which is equal to 10 years average salary at that time. By 1902 they introduced the very first saloon car and later that year the first Renault engine with four cylinders and 24 horse power. Not long after this the very first turbo engine was patented.

In 1903 Marcel was tragically killed during a race from Paris to Madrid. He was only 31 years old. This spelt the end for Louis and it made him give up racing for good.

By 1919 the motor car in France was regarded as a great luxury and was massively taxed. Louis reorganised his business and started to manufacture everything that had an engine from cars, vans, light commercial vehicles, buses, trucks etc. He aquired his own foundries and ironworks which enabled him to reduce his dependence on other companies although he did buy components when they were cheaper than he could manufacture himself.

In 1998 Renault celebrated its centenary by the opening of two major sites.
The Renault Technocentre near Paris was to be the driving force accommodating Renaults 6500 engineering and design personnel.
The Scenic assembly plant based in Brazil is a huge complex including a powertrain plant and also a light vehicle assembly plant.

I wonder if Louis Renault could ever have imagined right at the start when he converted his tricycle that his company would grow into such a large industry. Nowadays it is often more viable to lease vans and indeed in years to come Renault van leasing companies would be spread worldwide.

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The van and truck sector of the motoring industry is the latest to release some bad news. Figures for truck registrations in June show that the amount of registrations are still falling, however, the amount of van registrations is showing improvement.

The amount of trucks being registered has been falling month by month, however, the figures for June have shown the largest drop in registrations yet. With 2,761 trucks registered in June, this is a 47% decline in registrations from June last year.

As for the other part of the sector, the amount of van registrations has seen slight improvement. The amount of vans being registered reached 17,158 units. This sales figure shows a 40.1% fall in registrations from June 2008, however, this month on month fall is actually the smallest so far. These figures show that the number of vans being sold could be levelling out.

Renault was one of the manufacturers that did well in June. They saw a 78.5% increase in sales for their range of light trucks and vans during this June. One model that did well for them was the very popular Renault Trafic van. Renault have found the Trafic van to be their bestselling van to date, plus with it winning the 2009 Security award recently, the sales should continue to rise.

There are a series of factors that have affected the van and truck market. One reason is that many businesses are waiting to see if van and truck prices continue to fall before buying. Although the amount of companies buying vans is falling, the amount of van leasing companies buying vans is on the rise, this is because the companies that aren’t buying vans are choosing to lease vans instead.

Many companies are finding that getting out a Renault van lease is working out cheaper in the long run rather than buying a brand new van. So if you are looking for a Renault Trafic lease, you will often get a better deal because you are only paying monthly for the van, rather than paying a bulk sum for a new van.

So although many companies are not buying new vans and trucks, the amount being bought by leasing companies is rising to keep up with demand.

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Technorati Tags: leasing, light trucks, renault, Trucks, Vans

More of these articles and much more automotive news can be found on: Automotive News

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has formed a partnership with the Energy Market Authority (EMA), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore to explore the development of Zero Emission Vehicles Program. 

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in the presence of Lawrence Wong, CE of EMA, Dr Beh Swan Gin, MD of EDB, Yam Ah Mee, CE of LTA and Thierry Koskas, Renault Electric Vehicles Programme Director, the organizations have agreed to set up working team of representatives and promote introduction and expansion of electric vehicles in Singapore. 

“EV development is an exciting new area particularly relevant to the Singapore context. Singapore is well-positioned for the deployment of EVs due to our relative small size, urban environment, robust electrical grid and IT infrastructure,” said Mr Lawrence Wong, Chief Executive, EMA. 

“Renault and Nissan aim to become leading brands in zero emission vehicles. Singapore is for us a key priority, as the geography of the country and the focus on environment issues make fast and strong development of electric cars,” said Thierry Koskas Renault electric vehicles programme director. “We are looking forward to working closely with all partners involved to make this project successful.”  

 The Renault-Nissan Alliance has begun ZEV initiatives in Kanagawa Prefecture and Yokohama in Japan, as well as in Israel, Denmark, Portugal, Monaco, the UK, France, Switzerland, Ireland, China and Hong Kong. In the United States, the Alliance is exploring ways to promote zero-emission mobility and the development of an EV infrastructure in the State of Tennessee, the State of Oregon, Sonoma County and San Diego in California, and Tucson, Phoenix Arizona, Seattle in Washington and Raleigh in North Carolina. 

The Alliance has formed partnerships with 26 governments, cities and other organizations to advance the deployment of EVs worldwide. 

The Renault-Nissan Alliance The Renault Nissan Alliance, founded in 1999, sold 6,090,304 vehicles in 2008. The objective of the Alliance is to rank among the world’s top three vehicle manufacturers in terms of quality, technology and profitability. 

EV Taskforce 

To spearhead Electric Vehicle (EV) test-bedding and infrastructure development in Singapore, a multi-agency taskforce chaired by Energy Market Authority (EMA) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been set up with members comprising the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Economic Development Board (EDB), National Environment Agency (NEA), Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).  

The EV taskforce was set up to assess the benefits and applicability of adopting EVs in Singapore. It will draw up the overall plan of EV test-bedding and evaluation of the environmental and economic benefits, with a view of a potential larger scale adoption of EVs in future. The taskforce will work with key industry players to examine infrastructural requirements, policy requirements and new business models arising from EVs, as well as identify industry development and R&D opportunities. It will also look into educating the public on EV technology though a nationwide EV sharing programme or through corporate fleets. Funding for interested parties to develop infrastructure and buy electric vehicle will set aside during the test-bedding process.  

Energy Market Authority Energy Market Authority (EMA) was formed on 1 April 2001 as a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry to forge a secure, long-term electricity industry that thrives on healthy competition. New market structures have been created to promote competition in the electricity and gas industries. EMA will also continue to promote cost-competitive outcomes for consumers by ensuring a level playing field for competition within the electricity and gas. As co-chair of the EV Taskforce, EMA endeavors to establish strategic partners for test bedding, identify power grid regulation/licensing for EV charging systems and develop relevant codes and standards.   Land Transport Authority Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport. spearheads land transport developments is planned by the LTA and so are long-term transport needs. LTA addresses wider issues such as sustainable development, economic growth, and community life, while serving commuters by providing an integrated and user-friendly transport system. As a co-chair of the EV Taskforce, LTA helps ensure that relevant regulations, standards and infrastructure are in place. LTA looks forward to working with leading companies such as Renault-Nissan to develop innovative transport solutions. 

Economic Development Board EDB is the lead government agency for planning and executing strategies to enhance Singapore’s position as a global business centre and grow the Singapore economy. In so doing, we attract economic opportunities and jobs for the people of Singapore, and help shape our country's economic future. EDB’s role in the MOU is to work with industry partners like Renault-Nissan to jointly identify industry development opportunities such as manufacturing and R&D. The MOU is aligned with EDB’s positioning of Singapore as a “Living Laboratory” where leading-edge urban mobility solutions, such as electric vehicles, are tested, developed and exported to the rest of the world. 

iCar Automotive News (see the link above this article) is an independent webzine for the modern car enthusiast. When your are interested in classic cars then we could recommend Auto Motor Klassiek, thousands of classic cars for sale when you click on Classic Cars for Sale Auto Motor Klassiek is a magazine for Classic Cars.

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