#usine des omnibus

[boulbil]

Quai du Point-du-Jour entre le pont du Garigliano et le Pont de Billancourt.

[alencar07-blog]

RENAULT

The story of the automaker derives from a real adventure, when the first orders were made to French industrialist Louis Renault, who at age 21 built his first car in the backyard of his mother's house. On December 24, 1898, his friends challenged him to climb Lepic, the steepest street in Paris, driving the "Voiturette A", a car built by him on the basis of a tricycle. Louis Renault was able to carry out the feat thanks to the innovative direct transmission of the vehicle (that is, the gearbox that is nowadays implanted in all vehicles) and received its first 12 orders there. On February 25, 1899 the brothers Renault, Louis, Marcel and Fernand, opened their factory on Boulevard Du Cours Boulogne-Billancourt with the name of Renault Fréres. That same year, at the Paris Motor Show the new company presented its first two car models: Type A and B. Both had 450 cc engines and only in that year were 76 units produced.

In 1901, the automaker introduced the D and E models, and inaugurated a new factory in Belgium. The following year, the first RENAULT engine was built, allowing the brothers to win the Paris-Vienna race between France and Austria. With 16 horsepower this engine had an average speed of 63 miles per hour, a very impressive number for the time. In addition, this year the first patent for a turbocharged engine was achieved. The siblings quickly realized the publicity and spotlight that could attract the participation of their vehicles in auto competitions and reached fast success and recognition in the first races of city to the city in France. Both competed with models from their factory, but Marcel died at the age of 31 in a car accident during a race between Paris and Madrid in 1903. Although Louis Renault no longer competed after this tragic event, his company remained involved in including the victory of a RENAULT model AK 90CV winner of the first Grand Prix in 1906, with over thirty minutes of lead over second place. Shortly before, in 1905, the brothers ventured into a new area: engines for aeronautics. And they succeeded, beating records of speed in the air.

Still in 1906, the first bus produced by the automaker, called the Omnibus, was launched in the market. With the death of Fernand in the year 1909, the company was renamed LES AUTOMOBILES RENAULT. Just before the outbreak of World War I in 1913, RENAULT already produced 10,000 cars a year, had 5,000 employees and faced its first strike. During the conflict, the automaker directed its efforts to manufacture ammunition, military aircraft and vehicles such as the famous Renault FT-17 tank. In the midst of a ruined economy and strong American competition, Louis Renault built a new factory and diversified production, manufacturing buses, tractors and commercial vehicles. RENAULT has grown and extended its operations to 49 countries around the world.

The automaker was also a pioneer in the production of its vehicles, integrating already in 1919 the manufacture of all the components, from the steel to the tires. RENAULT and Citröen competed in competition at this time, forcing both to innovate and to dare, producing ever better and more attractive vehicles for consumers. It was only in 1920 that a new model of the car was introduced, the Renault 10 CV, followed by the 6CV in 1922. In 1925 the popular 40CV emerged, the first car to use the famous diamond-shaped symbol that is now part of the French brand. Two years later, Monasix was introduced, which, after being improved in 1928, became a major success of the brand with consumers. It was during this period that the French automaker began exporting its vehicles to the United Kingdom. The first compact produced by the brand was the Juvaquatre, in 1937, already with independent front suspension and hydraulic brake control. It was a two-door car, 1,003 ccm engine and 24 hp power.

During World War II, the factories of Louis Renault worked for the Nazi Germany, producing trucks. By virtue of this, he was arrested during the liberation of France in 1944 and died in prison before preparing his defense. Its industrial assets were confiscated by the government of General Charles De Gaulle and the factories became a public company (known in French by Régie Nationale des Usines Renault). It was from this time, as a state, that the automaker took on the challenge of proving that it could be as competitive as a private company. During the war, the automaker's factories produced military materials, and it was not until 1946 that the production of passenger cars was resumed. The following year, it was finally launched its first truly popular model, the Renault 4CV, which would become one of the most important cars in the history of the automotive industry and "grandfather" of Gordini, given the enormous success it achieved, selling half a million units until the closure of its production in 1961. The success of this compact model proved the economic viability of the brand, giving it new impetus in a period of difficulties and uncertainties.

From 1955, the company intensified one of its vocations, the export, becoming the largest industrial exporter in France. The success of the sales had like highlights the compact models, as for example, the Renault 4 in 1961, that would come to sell more than 8 million units; the top of the line Renault 16 launched in 1965, which revolutionized traditional values ​​with its rear door and modularity, and would become the first RENAULT to win the title of Car of the Year; and the Renault 5, a small and popular car launched in 1972, which would become one of the company's biggest successes, much because of its economy in the period of the oil crisis that the world experienced. In 1982, RENAULT became the second European automaker, behind only Volkswagen, to produce automobiles in the United States. The Alliance, American version of the RENAULT 9, was the first car produced on American soil. Other successes were launched in the 1980s, such as the extraordinary R9 in 1981, the Renault 25 (high-end car) in 1984 and the Super5.

In 1991, the automaker decided to end with the designation of car models by numbers, a tradition since its foundation. In this decade, RENAULT entered a new stage of its history, passing again to the private initiative in the year 1996. Its capacity for innovation was highlighted mainly by successful launches such as the compact Clio, the versatile Twingo, the luxurious Laguna, the popular Mégane, the functional Scénic and the daring Kangoo. On January 2, 2001 REANULT sold its subdivision of industrial vehicles (known as "Renault Véhicules Industriels"), created in 1978, to the Swedish Volvo, which renamed it RENAULT TRUCKS in 2002. In 2005, the Brazilian Carlos Ghosn, who was until then executive of Nissan, assumed the position of CEO of RENAULT in replacement of Louis Schweitzer, who commanded the French automaker of 1992 until this period.

On February 9, 2006, Carlos Ghosn announced the Renault Contrat 2009 plan with which the brand would seek to continue its innovative spirit with plans as ambitious as becoming one of the automakers that least pollute the environment. On December 8, 2007, RENAULT announced a partnership with Russian state-owned companies to revitalize AvtoVAZ and the traditional Lada brand. The launch of Koleos (the first 4X4 crossover utility of the automaker) was the 11th model of the 26 announced to boost the growth of RENAULT in the world. With the launch of a 4X4 Crossover, the automaker continued its product offensive and completed its car offering, proposing an unprecedented model in the history of the brand.

In 2008, RENAULT made nine world launches. Despite the severe financial crisis that the world went through in 2010, the automaker broke a record sales record with 2.6 million units sold. In Europe alone, more than 1.6 million vehicles were sold. In recent years RENAULT has modernized and refurbished its line of vehicles with the launch of models such as the compact SUV DUSTER (which became the world's best-selling car in the world), the ZOE electric car, the compact crossover with bold CAPTUR , most recently the luxurious TALISMAN. In addition, the French automaker signed a partnership with Dongfeng in 2013, creating its first joint venture to produce its vehicles in China.