Thirty years ago, Philippe Chartier announced the creation of the Renault Employee Shareholders Association (AASR), founded with a clear guiding principle: “Our concern is, and will remain, the determination to contribute to the future of Renault.”
Thirty years later, this conviction remains as relevant as ever and continues to be at the heart of the Association’s actions, carried forward by the women and men, current and former employees, who have volunteered their time and commitment within the Association for the past three decades.
It is a responsibility.
It is a calling.
Those who build Renault’s future must be able to take part in its defense, its governance, and the decisions that shape its destiny.
On July 7, 2026, an investigation published by French newspaper Les Échos reported that the Chinese automaker BYD had, on two occasions, in 2024 and again in 2025, proposed acquiring a stake in Renault. According to the report, Renault’s management and the French State, which holds 15% of the company’s share capital and benefits from enhanced voting rights, did not pursue these approaches.
This information has not been publicly confirmed by the companies concerned and should therefore be treated with the necessary caution.
Nevertheless, the signal itself deserves attention.
At a time when the global automotive industry is facing unprecedented technological, economic, and geopolitical transformations, no major car manufacturer can consider its independence to be permanently guaranteed. At Renault, the French State remains a reference shareholder. Tomorrow, however, nobody can guarantee that the capital structure will remain unchanged. Governments come and go, strategies evolve, and shareholdings can be sold.
Employees, on the other hand, remain. In factories, engineering centers, commercial operations, support functions, and across all of the Group’s businesses, they embody the expertise, the memory, the know-how, and the capacity to build the Company’s future.
This is why we support the ambition of increasing employee share ownership to 10% of Renault’s capital.
Not as a financial objective.
But as a commitment to independence, stability, and collective sovereignty.