الموضوع: رينو زمان

It all started in the closing weeks of 1898. Louis Renault was celebrating his 21st birthday, he chose the occasion to launch his new automobil: RENAULT Type A. Type A had 270 cc engine (1,75 hp) and a three-speed gearbox, it could carry 2 people at 50 km/h (30 mph). Type A was based on the DeDion quadricycle.

Renault History



1898-1918
The beginning
In 1905, to meet orders for taxis placed by the cities of Paris, London and New York, Renault switched from craft production to mass production. During the first world war, the Billancourt plant worked flat-out to produce vehicles for the troops. The FT 17 tank made a decisive contribution to the Allies' victory... and to the fame of Louis Renault, who had designed it. When peace returned, France's leading manufacturer set to work to relaunch civilian production.

1918-1929
The roaring twenties
The United States, which was not involved in the war, overtook France to become the world's leading automobile manufacturer. Against a background of economic chaos, Louis Renault diversified production, making buses, tractors and light commercial vehicles. He introduced a new form of work organization to reduce his dependence on other companies, and built a huge factory on the Ile Seguin, Billancourt, just outside Paris.

1929-1945
The end of an illusion
At the summit of his glory, Louis Renault was completing his lifetime's work but he was no longer in tune with the times. And in 1940, he did not understand the shape history was taking. When he died in 1944, his company was nationalized for being "an instrument of the enemy".

1945-1955
Renault, a State-owned company
In 1945, after five years of foreign occupation and hardship, France enters into a period of post-war reconstruction. Renault is emblematic of the nationalization programme launched in the country's main sectors and meant to put France's economy back on its feet.

1955-1975
Export - an economic necessity
Headed by Pierre Dreyfus, the Régie Renault pursues its development and consolidates its position as the leading national firm. However, with insufficient preparation, it fails to gain ground on the U.S. market.

1975-1985
Skyriding and nose-dive
In December 1975, Bernard Vernier-Palliez took the reins from Pierre Dreyfus at the head of Renault. With the European market paralysed by the oil crisis (sales down by 40%) Renault would step up its partnerships policy and broaden its business outlook.

1985-1992
Renaissance
Georges Besse lost no time putting Renault back on the road to recovery, but only at the expense of tough measures that would prove unpopular among the workforce and attract the wrath of far-left fanatics who would stop at nothing, not even murder.

1992-2005
Renault's new identity
In mid-1992 Raymond H. Lévy reached retirement age and stepped down to make way for his chief financial officer Louis Schweitzer, a former senior civil servant who had joined Renault six years earlier. Despite his rather atypical profile for a captain of industry, Renault's new boss would spearhead a major change in scope.


Official Renault website : http://www.renault.com