E.Leclerc Location and Groupe Renault team up in a one-of-a-kind partnership to speed up adoption of electric mobility

Ivry sur Seine/Elancourt, 30 November 2020. Ten years after joining forces for the first time and using Renault ZOE cars to promote more responsible mobility, E.Leclerc and Groupe Renault are shifting up a gear. E.Leclerc’s 504 vehicle rental agencies will be offering the new Dacia Spring, the least expensive all-electric car in the European market, on an exclusive basis, starting on 1 March 2021. The goal is to enable French drivers to rent electric cars and see the advantages of electric mobility for themselves, with the most affordable deals ever.

For E.Leclerc, this move is part of a comprehensive plan to go electric

E.Leclerc started working on its programme to foster electric mobility with Renault in 2010. It began equipping its supermarket and hypermarket car parks with charging stations in 2011, buying Renault ZOE cars for its employees to use on the job in 2012, and setting up clubs of “ambassadors” in French regions to stimulate clean mobility in 2013. It has built this programme around making electric mobility more available and providing education. E.Leclerc has also endorsed the French Transport Ministry’s plan to set up 100,000 stations, and announced on 12 October last that it aims to grow its existing charging capacity to reach 5,000 stations over the next two years then 10,000 by 2025.

This new partnership between Groupe Renault and E.Leclerc Location will fast-track efforts to bring the electric mobility experience to more people across France, at the most affordable pricing in the market. E.Leclerc has ordered 4,000 vehicles (3,000 Dacia Spring and 1,000 Renault ZOE), and hopes to encourage thousands of drivers to try this greener mobility option then adopt it.

Dacia Spring, the least expensive all-electric supermini in the market

Groupe Renault’s 10-plus years’ experience and almost 350,000 electric vehicles on roads today make it Europe’s electric vehicle leader. Its brand Dacia is merging electric mobility into its longstanding philosophy, which revolves around offering contemporary cars with just the essentials, with Spring Electric.

Dacia Spring Electric is a revolution: it is the most inexpensive electric supermini in the European market, and is bringing electric mobility even closer within reach. It comes with an adventurous look, record-breaking space inside, a dependable electric engine and a reassuring range. All this adds up to a polyvalent and practical supermini.

This lightweight compact car’s range is 225 km (WLTP) or 295 km (WLTP City, meaning the urban cycle of the test procedure), making it extremely versatile in cities as well as suburbs.

“I’m glad we can encourage our customers to go electric on such a large scale. This way, they can try out the cars no strings attached, then adopt this kind of mobility over time. This is exactly the point of all our efforts for the environment and purchasing power. Thanks to Groupe Renault and its brand Dacia, we will be able to provide a particularly affordable deal. This is a real step forwards, to build the market for the universal vehicle of the future!” Michel-Edouard Leclerc, Chairman of Centres E.Leclerc’s Strategy Committee.

“In their respective fields, E.Leclerc and Dacia offer inexpensive, trustworthy, high-quality alternatives within everyone’s reach. By offering Dacia Spring cars, which are the most reasonably-priced electric vehicles in Europe, E.Leclerc is opening the door to electric mobility for all, in as many parts of France as possible. This is an exciting, purposeful partnership and it will contribute to another of the commitments we share: building a carbon-free society. Tomorrow’s mobility will be built in ecosystems, together, and it starts with partnerships like this.” Luca de Meo, CEO of Groupe Renault.

About Mouvement E.Leclerc

With 721 supermarkets and hypermarkets and 536 members in France, E.Leclerc is one of the country’s leading retailers. It made €38.8 billion in revenue (excluding fuel) in 2019 and its leadership is corroborated by its 21.6% share in the market. This performance results from the policy that Mouvement E.Leclerc has been applying since its inception in 1949: it fights, day after day, to provide low prices and roll out a singular business model based on a decentralised, cooperative and participative organisation. Mouvement E.Leclerc’s members are individual entrepreneurs who share the same aim – enabling everyone to live better while spending less – and strive to achieve it with pioneering, responsible initiatives, and with the lowest prices for comparable quality. These members are in touch with and involved in their community, and invest sustainably to make E.Leclerc centres the outlets that cater to their customers’ needs and protect purchasing power every day.

About Groupe Renault

Groupe Renault has manufactured cars since 1898. Today it is an international multi-brand group, selling close to 3.8 million vehicles in 134 countries in 2019, with 40 manufacturing sites, 12,700 points of sales and employing more than 180,000 people.

To address the major technological challenges of the future, while continuing to pursue its profitable growth strategy, Groupe Renault is focusing on international expansion. To this end, it is drawing on the synergies of its five brands (Renault, Dacia, Renault Samsung Motors, Alpine and LADA), electric vehicles, and its unique alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. With a 100% Renault owned team committed to the Formula 1 World Championship since 2016, the brand is involved in motorsports, a real vector for innovation and awareness.