Ladies and gentlemen, and dear shareholders, we are delighted to welcome you to this very important annual event, which is our annual general meeting. Thank you so much for attending in spite of this beautiful weather that we are having here. Joining me here today are Mr. François Provost, Chief Executive Officer, Renault Group, Mr. Duncan Minto, Chief Financial Officer, and Miss Quitterie de Pelleport, Chief Legal Officer. We are also delighted to have in the front rows here the members of the board of directors, the members of the leadership team, our statutory auditors, and the two shareholder representatives who will be acting as scrutineers. I'd also like to inform you that we have legal officers who are present. I'd now like to give you some legal information regarding the conduct of this meeting.
Let me remind you that the notice convening this meeting was published in the Bulletin des Annonces Légales Obligatoires and in the Legal Gazette on the 25th of March 2026. Registered shareholders, holders of FCPE units, and the statutory auditors were invited by post or by email. I shall turn now to the composition of the meeting's bureau. In my capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Directors, I shall be chairing this meeting, and the roles of scrutineer will be filled by the French state, represented by Mr. Pierre Janin, and Amundi, which is represented by Mr. Frédéric Rosamond. The role of Secretary of the Meeting will be fulfilled by Ms. Quitterie de Pelleport. The bureau is thus constituted.
All necessary legal documents have been filed with the board in accordance with the legal provisions and made available to shareholders from the date of the notice convening this meeting. These documents are deemed to be in order by the bureau. The notice of meeting, comprising the agenda and the texts of the resolutions, as well as all the documentation that is required for this meeting, have been made available on our group's website. I have received confirmation that the meeting comprising more than 1/4 of the shares representing the share capital and carrying voting rights is therefore valid to deliberate on both the ordinary and extraordinary resolutions on the agenda. The secretary of the meeting will provide you with the final figures just before we proceed to the vote on the resolutions.
I'd also like to point out that our meeting is being filmed and broadcast on the Renault Group's website. I will of course hand over the floor to François Provost in a minute. Before I do that, I'd like to share a few words with you. Allow me, first and foremost, to acknowledge all of the achievements of Renault over the past year. 2025 did indeed, if you don't mind me saying so, get off to a flying start, with Renault with the Car of the Year being awarded to the Renault 5 and the Alpine A290. Not to mention, of course, the International Van of the Year award that was won by the Master. 2025 also ended on a very high note with the signing of our partnership with Ford, which is quite an obvious testament to our company's appeal and credibility.
Midyear, our former Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Luca de Meo, announced that he was going to leave the company, and Renault Group's governance structure immediately responded effectively to ensure business continuity with no impact on operations. This was achieved against an international backdrop that has become even more challenging and conflict-ridden, driven by powers that are increasingly openly asserting their dominance by aligning political, economic, and military hegemony. We are now witnessing the confirmation of major shifts, with the global economic center of gravity shifting towards Asia, the erosion of ties between the United States and Europe, the challenge of the Western model by a significant number of BRICS plus countries, which today actually account for nearly 50% of the world's population today, and the increasingly aggressive protectionism of certain nations regarding raw materials and critical materials.
We also have to contend with more recent trends, the circumvention of multilateralism, the marginalization of international law and of major international organizations, the conditionality of NATO's Article 5, which has now turned international security into a service that now must be paid for, and the regular use of tariffs as a weapon in the battle for economic dominance. It is in this increasingly unstable and unpredictable environment, where the era of supposedly happy globalization is well and truly over, that the European automotive industry must face intensified competition and ensure the transformation of its value chains whilst navigating an increasingly restrictive regulatory framework. Two major concerns really are mobilizing all of our energies.
On the one hand, the slowdown in the Chinese domestic market, which is prompting Chinese car brands to seek sales in open economies such as Europe or Latin America that they cannot find in the closed U.S. market, making their commercial approach extremely aggressive. The Chinese tsunami that I predicted during my parliamentary hearing upon taking up the chairmanship of the Renault Group has indeed materialized. Let us recall that in 2025, for the very first time in history, China exported more vehicles to Europe than Europe did to China, resulting in a European deficit of EUR 6 billion, whereas just five years ago, we had a surplus of EUR 20 billion.
Another concern is really Europe's excessive inertia, as well as the difficulties in achieving alignment between different European countries, which hamper our competitiveness and make our strategic autonomy all the more frequently to be invoked, even though it often appears largely illusory. There are, of course, various issues on the European agenda. The relaxation of decarbonization regulations, the easing of the regulatory framework for small vehicles, the long-awaited recognition of the principle of technological neutrality, the setting of local content requirements, and the definition of rules specific to commercial vehicles. These decisions that are to be taken are obviously very, very complex and, as you know, the devil is in the detail, but they are too slow in coming.
Now, in this very challenging environment, the teams at Renault Group, under the leadership of the management team, whom I would like to commend here, achieved very robust results in 2025 and demonstrated a capacity to adapt that commands our respect, and I would really like to congratulate them extremely warmly. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to François, who has stepped up to his responsibilities without any delay at all, with great courage, with great efficiency, thanks to his thorough knowledge of the company. Under his inspiring leadership, the company has defined a very powerful and a very pragmatic new strategic plan. futuREady addresses this group's situation and the many challenges that it faces. François will obviously go into a lot more detail on this later.
Finally, I would really like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Board of Directors, which underwent a significant reshuffle last year, if you remember. The Board members have been deeply involved in the appointment of the new Chief Executive Officer and obviously also in the development of the new strategic plan. Pierre Fleuriot will have the opportunity to highlight the importance of this task shortly. It has now been seven years, ladies and gentlemen, that I have had the honor of becoming Chairman of Renault Group. I have one year left to complete my term of office, believe me, this company will be occupying my mind, my time, and my energy right up to the very last moment of the last day, for we still have much to accomplish.
I will not serve an extra term, and I will be committed to ensuring that my succession proceeds with a single focus: defending the interests of the company and its people. Since I took over as chairman of the company, under the circumstances that we are all aware of, what a long road have we traveled and what crises have we weathered.
As I said, at the height of the crisis in 2019, I said, "One day, Renault Group will come back to the standing that it deserves." I think in hindsight that there was some self-persuasion involved, but the talent and the resilience of Renault's teams, as well as the strength of the Group's governance, whatever the ups and downs may be, have ultimately proved me right to the benefit of all of us, and that is a great source of gratitude for me and also a little pride. What makes me particularly happy is that the company has remained true to its corporate purpose, and that its performance has not come at the expense of its values, but rather by building on them.
Thus, we have invested heavily in sustainability, for example, by ensuring that the Flins plant can become a model of the circular economy, which certain competitors have since emulated, although they are a few years behind us. Even in very difficult times, we have sought to uphold sharing of our values and the care for all of our stakeholders whilst ensuring the quality of social dialogue. Finally, what a source of pride it is to have staked our future on France. It's a difficult gamble, one that has never been definitively won, but a gamble that we have embraced to the extent that Renault embodies, even more today than yesterday, the proactive spirit of a company that contributes to the influence of French industry without turning its back on our social traditions.
When it opens next year, the Renault Museum in Flins will, in its beautiful setting, pay tribute to the remarkable history of our company, which will continue, against all odds, to be a part of France and to make the hearts of all generations beat faster. A few days ago, we paid tribute to Louis Schweitzer by naming the Le Mans plant after him. That was a leader who not only embodied the company beautifully, but also capable of transforming it, bringing it into the modern age without challenging or denying its roots or its past.
There are many of us, especially in this room here today, who hold him in immense respect and have a deep affection for him, both for what he achieved and also, of course, for the man that he was. As everyone knows, in 1999, he founded the Alliance, which has seen some exciting chapters in its long history. It's also gone through moments of deep crisis, especially in the last few years. That is why we have ensured that it evolved, so that it focuses on concrete projects based on an approach that has become very pragmatic with time. This Alliance is going to be a decisive asset in supporting our international offensive and obviously in the very strong ambitions that we now have for India.
Our various partnerships with our Japanese friends in Nissan and Mitsubishi, with Ford and with Geely, with these partnerships, we can now maximize our geographical complementarities and our market coverage while boosting, sorry, the activity of our plants. Despite the headwinds, despite the uncertainties that we have faced and will probably continue to face, I have great confidence in the company because it has put itself in the right position to avoid what I call the cyclical trap that many of our competitors are falling into.
Our strategy, the appeal of our brands and our products, our partnerships, our culture of innovation, the relationships of respect and trust that we maintain with our stakeholders, as well as the immense talent of Renault employees, all of this enables the group to stand strong and to look to the future, not with naivety, but with clarity and with confidence and serenity. We will continue, therefore, and we will intensify our trajectory in the years to come under François' leadership, in a spirit of responsibility and accountability, because we stand by our strategy and our choices, which are based on our purpose and our values. We are so attached to them, and Renault deserves it. Thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen, for your attention. François, I'm happy to give you the floor now.
Thank you, dear Jean-Dominique. Dear shareholders, good afternoon to all of you. It is an honor, really, for me to be with you today for my very first AGM as the CEO of the Renault Group. I'm delighted to present to you our results for 2025, our outlook for 2026, but also our medium-term strategy with futuREady, which is our new strategic plan. Now, before I tell you about the past year and my first few months at the helm of the group, I would first like to offer my very sincere thanks to the teams of Renault Group, the board of directors, and to all of you, dear shareholders, for the trust that you have placed in us, in the leadership team and in myself since I was appointed. All right, now let's take a look back at 2025.
As soon as I arrived, I set out three priorities. The first priority was to have a team that was up and running to deliver results. One of my first priorities was to strengthen the leadership team, and this reorganization helped to bring out internal talent within the management team. It also enabled us to align our operations with our strategic and our operational priorities. We now have a Chief Growth Officer, Fabrice Cambolive. He ensures consistency across Europe between the Renault and Dacia brands, and he provides the necessary focus for our expansion outside of Europe. We have also consolidated all of our engineering function, the entire function, under the leadership of Philippe Brunet. This new structure marks a decisive first step in addressing one of our most urgent internal priorities in the face of the upheavals that our industry is undergoing today.
My second priority was to be out in the field, both in France and abroad, of course, working alongside our teams, our dealers, our suppliers and our partners. Finally, my third priority was to develop, together with the leadership team, together with our teams, and with the support of the board, our new strategic plan. futuREady is the result of this collective effort. I will present it to you in a few minutes. I also decided that we needed to make rapid progress on significant simplifications to our organization. With Ampere. Ampere was a success, particularly with the development of the new Twingo in record time. With Ampere 2.0 now, we are rolling out throughout the group this expertise that we have gained in electric vehicles and software.
We have also reviewed the initiatives that were launched with MBA, Mobilize Beyond Automotive. We are now going to focus on two very clear priorities. On the one hand, financial services with MFS, our bank, which of course is an absolutely critical and key strategic asset, and on the other hand, customer experience, which is driven by our brands. We have also made changes in India. Following the takeover of the Chennai plant, we have brought all of our activities together under unified management, and we are already seeing the positive effects of this because we can now much better respond to the speed and dynamism of the Indian market. Finally, in the LCV sector, we have restructured our internal organization and streamlined our cooperation with Volvo Trucks within Flexis SAS.
Now, over the last nine months, we have also finalized several strategic partnerships for the group. First of all, of course, within the alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. Jean-Dominique Senard told you, mentioned this, and I'm especially happy with the successful launch of the new Nissan Micra on our new RGEV small platform. Now, with Geely as well, of course, as part of our agreement in Brazil, we have announced an investment of over EUR 600 million to strengthen operations at our Curitiba plant, and this investment will enable us to produce two new models for Geely from H2 this year, followed by a new Renault model next year. With this partnership, we are really giving ourselves the equipment that we need to counter the offensive from our Chinese competitors in Brazil. Finally, we have also developed a partnership with a major car maker, Ford Motor Company.
We will produce two vehicles for them on our platforms and within our French industrial ecosystem at ElectriCity. Ford's decision to place its trust in us is yet further proof of the appeal of our industrial and technological expertise in Europe and in France. Thanks to the commitment of all our teams, we have also stayed on track with our financial targets for 2025. A solid operating margin of EUR 3.6 billion, representing 6.3% of revenue, and a high free cash flow of EUR 1.5 billion. Our performance is the result of a very clear strategy, ensuring that the product is our priority and investing where we can create value. In order to achieve this, we have a really key asset, our brands. Last year, all our brands delivered strong performances.
Renault recorded its third consecutive year of growth and is now firmly established as the second-largest brand in Europe. Dacia passed the milestone of 10 million vehicles sold in just 20 years. The brand is now number two in the European retail market, and the Sandero is Europe's best-selling car. Finally, Alpine trebled its sales in just three years. Totally, our sales grew by more than 3% and exceeded 2.3 million vehicles worldwide in 2025. These results confirm it quite clearly. We are on the right track. To illustrate this, one need only look at the launches that we carried out last year. In Europe, to begin with, the Renault 5 was voted Car of the Year in 2025, sold over 100,000 units last year, and stood as the leader in the electric B segment.
In the C-segment, the Symbioz recorded nearly 90,000 sales and has established itself as our best-selling hybrid model. With Dacia, a few months, sorry, after its launch, the Bigster was already the best-selling C-segment SUV on the European retail market. Overall, our sales in the second half of 2025 rose by 5.2% compared with the second half of 2024. 2025 also saw the start of our international expansion. In South Korea, our sales rose by 56%, driven by the success of the new Grand Koleos with over 43,000 units sold. In Latin America, our sales rose by 11%, thanks in particular to the Kardian, of which we sold nearly 50,000 units in 2025.
In the months to come, we will be stepping up the pace even further with new exceptional vehicles, and I will come back to this in a few minutes. The sales results that we achieved in 2025 are the culmination and the result of a very clear strategy, putting the product back at the center of our attention and accelerating the electrification of our range and focusing our efforts on our recovery in Europe. That was the direction of our previous strategic plan, Renaulution. That plan delivered on its promises. In five years, we launched 32 new models across our three brands, including the Renault 4, the Renault 5, the Bigster, as well as the A390. With Renaulution, we also strengthened our fundamentals. We improved the performance of our factories, especially in terms of quality.
We streamlined our commercial strategy, which now puts us in a much stronger position than many of our competitors. We have also demonstrated very consistent discipline in managing both variable costs as well as distribution costs. To put this simply, in spite of a very challenging environment, we can now build on a robust foundation. Now that we've proven we know how to win, our challenge now is to prove that we know how to sustain the success. That is really what is at the bottom of our new strategic plan, futuREady. As I was saying, our environment today is more uncertain than ever. There are so many disruptions, technological, regulatory, and geopolitical. To be able to succeed in such an unstable environment, we have to be faster, more agile, and more resilient.
We must be ready and prepared for the future, that is the aim and purpose of futuREady. This plan was something that we wanted to be deeply rooted in the reality of the group. Over nine months, we worked together collectively, involving the leadership team and many other colleagues throughout the company. futuREady is not just a detailed plan, it is also a mindset. We know, all of us, that the automotive industry is cyclical, so is Renault. With futuREady now, our priority, indeed our very obsession, I would say, is to create the conditions to break free from this perpetual yo-yo effect, generate coherent, consistent performance over the long term. With futuREady, we want to ensure that Renault Group becomes the European car manufacturer, the reference European car manufacturer. Yes, European.
That's important to us because I'm convinced that together with our teams, we are going to demonstrate that we can continue to develop and manufacture very, very competitive vehicles in Europe. In order to achieve this, our plan is based on four pillars. First and foremost, growth. Thanks to our products, driven by our products, and also by improving our customer experience. Technology and innovation. The third pillar is what we've called operational excellence, performance. Lastly, the fourth pillar is trust. The success of this plan depends on the mutual commitments that we make with all of our stakeholders. This is how we are going to become the reference European car maker. futuREady is, first and foremost, really a growth plan. Between now and 2030, we will be launching 36 new models, even more than we did during the Renaulution.
In other words, we are not slowing down. We are accelerating. Europe will remain our priority with 22 launches programmed in Europe. We are continuing our push towards electrification with 16 fully electric models. For the Renault brand, we are actually aiming at a mix that will be 50% electric and 50% hybrid by 2030. futuREady doesn't stop at the border of Europe. 30 years after the very first expansion beyond Europe, initiated by my predecessor, Louis Schweitzer, it is now time for the Renault Group to usher in a new era of internationalization. We are going to roll out a highly targeted strategy in high-growth markets where we already have fully integrated local ecosystems, especially in India and in South America.
These two regions, just by themselves, will account for more than 60% of our growth in volumes of our industry in the markets where the Renault Group operates. This is a major step up in scale, opening up access to a market of nearly 50 million vehicles a year, representing 55% of the worldwide market. To support our international mission, we will launch 14 new models, giving our international customers access to our E-TECH hybrid technology. I do want to tell you this, the futuREady product offensive has actually already begun. futuREady is not a plan for the distant future. It is a plan that is going to be deployed and is being deployed this year.
In Europe, in the A and B segments, where Renault has longstanding leadership position, we're gonna build on the momentum of the Renault 5, the Renault 4, and the Clio 6 with a disruptive model, this new Twingo. The initial feedback from the Twingo has been extremely promising. Internationally, the new Duster in India embodies our renewed ambition in this market. Alongside the Boreal in South America and in Turkey and the Renault Filante in South Korea, it demonstrates clearly that our offensive is gathering pace in high-potential markets. Finally, in 2026, we are also going to be launching the Trafic Van E-Tech. In recent years, we have invested very heavily in commercial vehicles. We now have one of the most attractive ranges, if not the most attractive range, on the commercial vehicle market in Europe. 2026 will be the year of the turnaround for our LCV division.
For Dacia now, our aim is to strengthen our position even further in the C segment by increasing the proportion of C-segment vehicles in our sales from 1/5 to 1/3. In order to do this, alongside the Bigster, we have just unveiled the Striker, our new multi-energy crossover that combines the dynamism of an estate car with the practicality of a very spacious sedan, with a starting price that is very true to Dacia's DNA, under EUR 25,000. I'll let you take a look at this beautiful car. Yes, we're very proud of the Striker. This is just the beginning because Dacia is also going to be launching a new electric vehicle in 2026. I'll see you at the end of the year for an exceptional surprise.
On the international front, as I mentioned, one of the hallmarks of the futuREady is our new Renault Bridger concept. This is a model that was developed in India primarily to meet the needs of the Indian market, but which will also help us to conquer other high-potential international markets. The Renault Bridger is a vehicle that is under 4 m long with a very bold design and balanced proportions, which offers a remarkable level of interior roominess. This is a vehicle that is designed for real-world use in major cities. It's compact, it's agile, it's roomy. From the very beginning, it was designed to be multi-energy, including a 100% electric version. Let's have a look at this together. With futuREady, we also want to take a significant step forward in customer experience.
It is a key driver for creating greater value, enhancing the appeal of our products, and setting us apart from an increasingly fierce competitive landscape. Our ambition is to build a long-term relationship with our customers spanning 10 years with an 80% retention rate by capturing greater value from the second and third lives of our vehicles. In order to do that, we can draw on some very powerful advantages. First of all, our distribution network with 9,000 locations worldwide. Next, Mobilize Financial Services, which enables us to offer our customers tailor-made financing solutions and acts as a real driver of performance for the group. Next, we have our after-sales service, which is a key differentiator. In particular, we intend to leverage the connectivity of our vehicles to reduce our costs and to support our customers for longer throughout the vehicle's entire life cycle.
In order to do this, we are going to rely on the development of digitization and artificial intelligence. As you've seen, when it comes to the product, we are going to be ready. However, in order to succeed, that is not going to be enough. We also have to compete with the very best in the technological arena, especially our Chinese competitors. Thanks to futuREady now, we have comprehensive roadmaps for all of the technologies that matter to us. Let's start with software. With the Trafic Van E-TECH, we will be the very first European manufacturer to roll out in Europe a software-defined vehicle, to roll out the software-defined vehicle electronic architecture.
We will also be developing a new generation electric motors and bioelectronics, which will be produced at our Cléon plant. We also have an ambitious roadmap for more innovative battery chemistries, which will improve range while at the same time reducing costs. For hybrids now, our E-TECH hybrid technology is already number two in Europe. We have chosen to capitalize on this lead that we have by extending the hybrid range in Europe beyond 2030, and also rolling it out internationally. We are building all of this on a very key asset, HORSE Powertrain, our joint venture with Geely and Aramco. This will enable us to keep pace with major technological developments and also to reduce our costs by up to at least EUR 1,000 per vehicle.
One of the major technological innovations in our plan is our new RGEV medium 2.0 platform designed for our future C-segment electric vehicles. We know that once a customer switches to an electric car, they never go back. In order for them to take that step, there are still certain barriers to overcome. The first of these barriers is price, which is why one of our priorities is to bring the price of our electric vehicles as close as possible to that of our ICE vehicles by 2030. The second hurdle is peace of mind. What am I going to do on long journeys? Well, our answer to that is simple: It's the range extender. For most of our customers, they will probably use it once or twice a year.
Those moments do matter, and that should never be a barrier for people to switch to electric cars. Because a picture is worth a thousand words, the best way to introduce you to this strategic advantage is simply to show it to you. Here's the RGEV medium 2.0. Jean-Dominique said earlier that our industry has now gone into a cycle that is more uncertain and tougher, more challenging. In this context, there is only one path open to us, to be the best at everything that we can control. This is the third pillar of the futuREady plan. This means, to begin with, quality at the very highest level, so I'll come back to that in a minute. This means also shorter development times. Now, with the new Twingo, we have demonstrated that this is possible.
Thanks in particular to ACDC, our advanced engineering center in China. We developed the Twingo in less than two years. From now on, this has got to become the standard for all our future vehicles, and we will achieve this at the Technocenter with all of our teams and with all of our European suppliers. Operational excellence is also about the resilience of our organization, and in this regard, we are already futuREady. For example, as soon as the conflicts in the Middle East broke out, we were able, within just one weekend, to identify all the impacts and to prevent any disruption of our supply chain. Operational excellence is also about cost control and integrating ESG into our operations and deploying artificial intelligence on a large scale. Ultimately, operationally, operational excellence is really the driving force behind futuREady.
It is through this that we will be able to turn our strategy into results. To give you a very concrete example of this, I'm going to talk to you about quality assurance. With futuREady, Renault Group vehicles will be among the market leaders in terms of quality. Not just on the first day when we deliver the car to the customer, but every day throughout the lifetime of the vehicle. In order to achieve this, we are scaling up our approach. 100% of all key manufacturing stages will be monitored by artificial intelligence with enhanced traceability, a much quicker response to alerts from the sales network, and a widely available capability for remote updates to our vehicles. This transformation will enable us to go even further. First of all, we've already halved the number of incidents during the first three months of driving.
We are now aiming for a further 50% reduction. We will take a decisive step forward in terms of sustainability by reducing incidents during the first five years of the vehicle's life by 70%. Greater excellence in our operations, more customer satisfaction. That is our ambition. With futuREady, we also want to take a further step towards integrating sustainable development into our operations. We remain committed to achieving carbon neutrality in 2040 in Europe and by 2050 globally. We've already reduced energy consumption in our factories by 25%, now we are aiming at a further 25% cut by 2030. We are set to step up our efforts in the circular economy, particularly through The Future Is NEUTRAL and our factory in Flins.
I'm not going to say any more about it, but I'd like to show you these videos. The fourth pillar of our plan is commitment, a mutual commitment, the one that we make and the one that we expect from our entire ecosystem. Obviously, I think first and foremost here of our ecosystem in France, because that's where our roots lie, and because France is still the nerve center of our company, and because I know that for all of you, this really is a vital issue. Over the past five years, our commitment to France has not wavered by an iota. We have invested over EUR 13 billion there and stabilized operations at each of our factories. With futuREady, we are reaffirming this commitment. We will once again invest a further EUR 13 billion over five years.
We will develop nine new models as well as four additional models for our partners. Over the next cycle, from 2026 to 2030, if the conditions are right in the market, we plan to increase production at our plants by 20% compared to the previous cycle. Before I go into detail about our commitments to each of our stakeholders, I'd like to invite you to meet on screen the people who are going to make futuREady into a success. All the faces that we've just shown you are those of futuREady, our teams, our dealers, our suppliers, our partners. They all have a crucial role to play. They are all very much on board with our plan. First of all, of course, first and foremost, our teams, our 100,000 employees.
Towards them, we have a duty of transparency. If we are to succeed, every employee, every team, every function has to know exactly where we are heading and how they can contribute. We take this commitment to clarity very seriously in our dialogue with trade unions. We also have a duty to support our staff. In an industry that is undergoing such quick transformation, roles and skills are evolving. Our responsibility is to ensure the long-term employability of our employees. As I have said, the most decisive transformation is going to be that of our engineering department. In order to make a success of this, the management team is not alone. We can count on our community of over 9,000 managers.
It is they who every day represent the company's voice on the ground. That is why we are going to be implementing a specific HR plan to support them and strengthen their impact. In order to succeed, we will also need our dealers and our network. At Renault Group, unlike most of our competitors, we have always regarded our network as a very major strategic asset. Along with our network, we want to take the customer experience to the next level, while also improving productivity and better controlling fixed costs. On the ground, sorry, the situation is clear. We have to simplify, we have to digitize the way we work with our distributors. This is what we're going to do together over the coming months. We are also going to need our suppliers.
With futuREady, we are not just looking for just suppliers, we are looking for real partners. This means more trust. We need to involve them at an earlier stage in the development of our vehicles, so that we can achieve our cost, quality, and deadline targets together by eliminating overly detailed specifications. It also requires greater transparency, gaining an overview of their value chain to secure our supplies and to build resilience. This is how we are going to improve our collective performance. To make futuREady a success, we are also going to need our partners. When it comes to partnerships, we follow three simple principles. The first principle. Renault Group does not need anyone else in order to grow and to achieve its objectives. futuREady is a plan aiming for growth and independence.
The second principle is that in Europe we will retain control of our key technologies. It is precisely the competitiveness of our ecosystem, especially our electric ecosystem, that makes it possible for us to attract partners like Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Ford. The third principle: outside of Europe, we will take a pragmatic approach. Wherever strategic intelligent partnership can accelerate our growth, we will seize the opportunities. This is the case, for example, with Nissan in India and with Geely in Brazil and South Korea. In all, by 2030, futuREady will enable us to produce more than 300,000 vehicles per year for five partner car makers. Finally, we are going to build futuREady also with all of you, our shareholders. With this plan, we will be demonstrating our ability to generate steady, solid, and sustainable growth.
We will invest this growth first and foremost where value is created, in our core business, in our vehicles. We are going to be investing in our products. We will not spread ourselves too thin with costly low-return diversifications. Our priority is and will remain the product. This growth will also enable us to present a solid balance sheet and to reward our teams fairly and, of course, to offer all of you an attractive dividend. With the support of the board of directors, we are proposing a dividend of EUR 2.20 for 2025. In the medium term, our course is very clear. We want to offer you attractive returns and to gradually increase the dividend per share in absolute terms. Duncan will come back to this in just a minute. It is now time for me to conclude.
I'd like to thank all the teams of Renault Group who have contributed to the development of this plan and who are now getting ready to bring it to life on the ground and to implement it. I would also like to thank the board of directors for its constant support and, of course, most especially, its chairman, Mr. Jean-Dominique Senard. I would like to thank all of you, our shareholders, for your loyalty to the Renault Group and for your trust and confidence in the rollout of our new plan. futuREady is a battle plan. It's going to enable the Renault Group to face the challenges ahead and to tackle them with energy. It starts now from 2026. It builds on our strengths, and it gives us the means to scale up.
We know perfectly clearly where we come from, we know perfectly clearly where we want to go, and we also know how to get there. At Renault Group, we are futuREady. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to give the floor now to our CFO, Mr. Duncan Minto.
Well, thank you, Jean-Dominique, and thank you, François. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm delighted to be with you today to present the financial results for the year 2025. We'll look briefly at sales trends and developments in the first few months of 2026. As Jean-Dominique and François have underlined, in 2025, Renault Group demonstrated its resilience and the strength of its strategy in a particularly challenging environment for the industry. These results are the fruit of a major collective effort, and they reflect the robustness of our fundamentals, the success of our vehicles, and the rigorous execution of our value-focused commercial policy. They provide a solid foundation for the execution of our plan, futuREady. Now, let's start off with the business performance.
In 2025, sales were up for the third year running to 2.3 million units. The three brands, Renault, Dacia, and Alpine, all contributed to volume growth, driven by the expansion of our electric lineup, our hybrid lineup, and the rollout of our international growth strategy. The Renault brand itself recorded its third consecutive year of growth, up 10% in the passenger car segment worldwide. In Europe, the Renault brand reached second place in the passenger car and LCV market, driven by a 7.4% increase in passenger car sales. The strong momentum in order intake since the start of the year confirms this momentum. Dacia also had a strong year.
The brand grew 3.1% and passed the very symbolic milestone of 10 million vehicles sold in just over 20 years. It's also become the second best-selling brand in private customers in Europe with a 7.9% market share. It's even more than Toyota. Finally, Alpine continued its growth trajectory. The brand surpassed the symbolic threshold of 10,000 annual sales for the year for the first time. These results prove one thing: we are on the right track, and we started the year with a healthy inventory level of 539,000 vehicles, and that once again reflects the success of our products. Group's revenue was up 3% in 2025 to EUR 57.9 billion.
On a constant exchange rate basis, it would have been up 4.5%. The automotive revenue per se was up almost 2% to EUR 51.4 billion. That benefited from a positive volume effect, and that is in line with the rise in global registrations, but also a price and product mix effect of nearly 3 percentage points. That's primarily driven by the group's value-focused commercial strategy, but also price increases to offset inflation and indeed the success of new launches. Finally, a dynamic momentum in parts and accessories and in used vehicles as well also contributed to revenue growth. MFS contributed EUR 91 million in 2025 compared to EUR 69 million the previous year.
It should be noted that as of January 1st, 2026, mobility services were reintegrated into the automotive segment following the organization of its activities, as François pointed out. Finally, our captive finance company, Mobilize Financial Services, generated EUR 6.4 billion in revenue, an increase of more than 13% then. That was primarily driven by higher interest rates, but also an increase in the average amount financed per vehicle and of course growth in the total number of cars with car loans. Now let's now turn our attention to the group's operating margin. In 2025, operating profit was EUR 3.6 billion. It's 6.3% of revenue. The automotive operating margins stood at EUR 2.2 billion or 4.2% of automotive revenue.
That accounted for 5.9% of revenue back in 2024. This is down, but that decline is mostly due to unfavorable currency effects, especially in Argentina, but also a less favorable product mix and fewer LCVs and more electric vehicles against the backdrop of increased commercial pressure and competition. These effects were partially offset by higher volumes. In 2024, we had a positive effect related to the discontinuation of Horse's depreciation and amortization since its deconsolidation. Horse's appreciation, amortization and margin are now recharged to us, but these two combined effect had a negative effect in 2025. Finally, our financing business, therefore MFS, Mobilize Financial Services, contributed EUR 1.5 billion to the group's operating margin.
That is an increase of EUR 173 million compared to 2024. Let's take a closer look now at the income statement. This line, other operating income and expenses, was negative, minus EUR 11.5 billion. What does this include? Well, you have the non-cash loss of EUR 9.3 billion, and that is related to a change in the accounting treatment of our stake in Nissan as of July 1st, 2025, and that aligns its valuation with Nissan's actual market price. This has no impact on the calculation of the dividend paid by the Renault Group. This also includes impairment charges on production assets or the charges related to vehicle development. That's a total of EUR 900 million, plus restructuring costs, and that was EUR 400 million.
The financial result, that was a negative EUR 208 million in 2025 compared to EUR 517 million in 2024. You have to note that hyperinflation in Argentina had less of a negative impact in 2025 compared to 2024. Contribution of associates to the group's results was a minus contribution, minus EUR 0.22 billion compared to minus EUR 521 million in 2024. You had minus EUR 2.3 billion from Nissan. As I said, as of 30 June 2025, the date of the change in the accounting policy, Nissan's results no longer affect the group's own results.
Contribution from associates, associate companies also included positive contribution of EUR 245 million that is, from Horse Powertrain Limited. Taxes accounted were an expensive EUR 522 million, including a EUR 24 million charge related to the exceptional surtax in France compared to an expense of EUR 647 million in 2024. The effective tax rate is 42%, and the change in 2025 is impacted by the non-recognition of deferred taxes on expenses and tax losses, especially in France. As a result, net income group share were minus EUR 10.9 billion in 2025. If you leave out the Nissan impacts, it would have been a positive amount of EUR 715 million.
Now, the automotive free cash flow stood at EUR 1.5 billion, including EUR 300 million in dividends from MFS compared to EUR 600 in 2024. The net financial position of the automotive division reached a record high, +EUR 7.4 billion compared to EUR 7.1 billion in 2024. This change to free cash flow generation includes EUR 697 million in dividends paid to shareholders, EUR 186 million in net financial investments, and the positive impact of the acquisition and consolidation of RNAIPL in India, and that was EUR 76 million. That's how we got to the net financial position. Let's look at the liquidity reserves, they remained very comfortable at +EUR 17.7 billion.
In 2025, S&P Global Ratings upgraded Renault S.A.'s long-term credit rating to investment grade, triple B minus with a stable outlook, up from double B plus previously. R&I and JCR in the first half of 25 had also raised the outlook on their credit rating from stable to positive. Finally, on April 7th of this year, Moody's confirmed also the positive outlook on its rating. Against a background of downgrades for our main competitors, these positive developments underscore, in particular, the continued improvement in our operational performance and also the momentum surrounding our product offensive. Bolstered by these results and confident about the future, we're submitting for your approval the payment of a dividend of EUR 2.2 per share for the year 2025.
As we indicated in futuREady, our intention is to continue rewarding our shareholders with a gradual increase in the dividend per share in absolute terms over the medium term. Let's move on to the year 2026, starting with registrations. Global sales stood at 546,000 units in Q1, down 3.3% compared to the first quarter of 2025. This decline is primarily due to temporary production and logistics disruptions at Dacia. Sales picked up again in March, and indeed, Dacia has a solid order book, and we're beginning to make up for production losses in the second quarter. Sales of Renault and Alpine are both on the rise, and in Europe in particular, the group has confirmed its third-place position in the passenger car and LCV market.
The group's revenue grew 7.3% compared to last year, reaching EUR 12.5 billion in the first quarter. At constant exchange rates, it would have risen by 8.8%, in line with the average single digit growth trajectory for group revenue as outlined in our futuREady plan. Let's look now at our financial outlook. We confirm the financial outlook for the year 2026. Group operating margin around 5.5% of revenue, with the operating margin for the second half of the year higher than H1, in line with typical seasonal patterns. Automotive free cash flow should stand at about EUR 1 billion.
2026 will be a year of resilience in a complex and challenging external environment before the full effects of our productivity plans can be fully implemented. Regarding operating margin, revenue growth will be supported by international expansion, but also the ramp-up of sales to our partners and the growth of electrified vehicles and the full year consolidation of RNAIPL in India. Nonetheless, this will have a dilutive effect on the margin in percentage terms. Finally, cost control will be a defining priority in 2026 and beyond. And we won't stop there. In the medium term, we certainly aim to improve our financial performance, and that is the very objective of our new futuREady strategic plan.
In a highly challenging market environment, Group aims for steady and controlled value creation based on rigorous and a realistic approach. The goal is to ensure a robust operating margin and sustained free cash flow. We're looking at operating margin between 5% and 7% of Group revenue over the medium term. The lower end of the margin forecast, you will note, is significantly higher than historical margins. Automotive free cash flow of at least EUR 1.5 billion per year on average, again, over the medium term, does include about EUR 500 million per year on average, in dividends from MFS. We also expect to receive a dividend from HORSE Powertrain starting in 2027.
These targets reflect our confidence in our plan, our futuREady, and indeed in the group's ability to sustainably improve its financial performance. Well, thank you for your attention. Now I'd like to call on Mr. Bertrand Pruvost from KPMG, our auditor, to present a summary of the reports from the board of auditors. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Minto, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of the Board of Statutory Auditors, I'll show you a summary of the reports prepared for your consideration. These reports have been made available to you and are indeed included in full in the meeting materials for this general meeting.
For the year 2025, we issued as many as eight reports covering the annual financial statements, the consolidated financial statements, the remuneration of redeemable shares, related party agreements, sustainability information, and finally, three reports on various transactions concerning the share capital. On the first report, we issue an unqualified opinion on the annual financial statements for 2025. In line with regulations, we've outlined in our report the key findings of the audit of Renault Group's annual and indeed consolidated financial statements. Regarding the annual financial statements, this is about the value of redeemable shares and related receivables. We added a technical note regarding the effects of the first time application of the ANC regulation number 2022 06, as set forth in the notes of the annual financial statements.
We also certified without reservations the consolidated financial statements of Renault Group in 2025. There are now three key audit matters brought to your attention in these consolidated statements. First, the recoverable amounts of the automotive sector's assets. The second report is on the change in the accounting treatment of the investment in Nissan, our stake in Nissan as of 30 June 2025. Finally, the expected loss on sales finance receivables. For each of these three items, we reviewed the accounting method and ensured that Renault's own estimates were reasonable and realistic. As part of the annual general meeting, we also issued three additional reports.
The first one is on redeemable shares. There we certified the calculation of the variable remuneration of these securities, make sure that this is in line with the issuance agreement. The second report is about related party agreements. That describes the main characteristics and terms of the agreements which were notified between your company and its corporate officers or between the company and companies with directors in common. The agreements already approved by the AGM and whose implementation continued in 2025 are summarized. The agreements authorized by the board of directors during the past year and submitted for your approval are about the reorganization of the partnership between Renault and Nissan Motor Co, Ltd, indeed, the continued implementation of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
There are four agreements, and they were all entered into on 31 March 2025. You have the umbrella agreement, the termination agreement for the Ampere investment agreement, the second amendment to the framework agreement, and the second amendment and restatement of the new alliance agreement. The third report is about sustainability. Our purpose is to provide limited assurance on Renault Group's sustainability, and it covers three areas. First, the compliance of the double materiality analysis, as implemented by your company, to assess the information provided. The compliance of the disclosed information with sustainability standards, known as ESRS, and compliance with the information disclosure requirements set forth in the taxonomy regulations. For each of these three areas, we present the nature of the checks, the verifications we performed, but also the conclusions we arrived at.
In support of these findings, the items to which we paid particular attention and the procedures we implemented, in summary, we didn't identify any material errors, omissions, or inconsistencies regarding the compliance of the sustainability process or information with the ESRS and compliance with the taxonomy regulation. We can certify each of these three areas without reservations at all. Finally, regarding the extraordinary portion of the general meeting, we issued three special reports concerning regulations that may affect the share capital. These transactions are consistent with conditions set forth in the Commercial Code, and our reports contain no specific remarks or observations to bring to your attention. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention.
Thank you for this presentation. Always, clear and short, and that reflects the good work of your teams and ours. At Renault, we have been working in good spirit. Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is now for Pierre Fleuriot to give you a presentation of the committees of the board and of course, the committee, the Compensation Committee. Pierre, it's all yours.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, in my capacity as Chairman of the Governance and Compensation Committee, and indeed Lead Director, it falls to me to present to you a summary of the board's activities and the compensation arrangements for the corporate officers. Let's start with the activities of the board. It has been very intensive this year. We met on 14 times, compared with nine last year. The committees met as many as 16 times, compared with 15 last year. This illustrates the number of meetings and the intense activity. You'll have detailed information on the activities of the board. The year 2025 was marked by two, well, two events that involved the board. First, the change in governance and indeed strategic directions.
Let's look at governance first. As you know, well, midway in 2025, we had a new CEO. In fact, we had three. The first one, of course, was Luca de Meo, who stepped down on the 15th of June, effective 15 July. The Governance Committee started looking for replacement immediately. In its annual reviews, it had already been working on a possible successor. We had a number of profiles, and we started working on that immediately. As of 15 July, we appointed an interim CEO, Duncan Minto, who is here, and he covered the position until such time as the new CEO was appointed. That was François Provost, who was appointed on 31 July 2025.
After this selection process, you can see this was fast and efficient. His appointment on 31 July was a co-optation, meaning that the board appointed him to stand in for the vacant position left as directed by Luca de Meo. That made him a director until this AGM. This appointment is being put to your vote in resolution number 10 to ratify this co-optation, which will then enable François to remain as director until the end of 2027. 2026 will be the last year of my term. My own succession has been organized. First, you have the proposed appointment of Marie-José Donsion, who is with us in the auditorium, and she will stand in for me as a member of the Risk and Audit Committee.
In my capacity as Lead Director, Bernard Delpit, who is also in the audience, who will stand in. He will also be my replacement on the Governance Committee. Finally, the Governance Committee will also have Annette Winkler on board, and she will then join the committee to replace Armelle de Madre. Armelle de Madre is now, was appointed as director last year. All the positions now are filled and will be filled indeed when my own term comes to the end after this AGM. Finally, we have a director of Women on Board. There is a principle of strict gender balance, and that also includes employee representative.
In other words, you have three employee representatives on the board, one of them, one of the three has got to be a woman. This is, we actually have a resolution now to amend our articles. Sébastien Jacquet took it upon himself to step down, this will become effective after this AGM. There will be an election in May for a new member to replace him, and that, of course, will be a woman. I'd like to thank Sébastien Jacquet for this initiative and indeed for his contribution to the work of the board. Thank you. Now, let's look at our strategic priorities.
This is the second main line of activity of the board. There were a number of agreements that had to be reviewed and in particular our agreements with Nissan. You may remember that Renault took back or bought back 50% of Nissan's stake in India, but also the provision of vehicles for Nissan. We have a new CEO now, and a number of strategic directions were revisited or updated, as it were. We, in particular, revisited our partnership with Geely in Brazil, and François mentioned this in his own presentation. We reviewed and monitored the financial situation of Flexis SAS. This is a joint venture we have with Volvo, and François also mentioned that.
We reorganized a number of branches, including Ampere, but also Mobilize Beyond Automotive. Then the review of Alpine's strategic roadmaps, roadmap. So the board was very much involved in this in preparing the new medium-term strategic plan. That was disclosed on the 10th of March. Indeed, the committees of the board, including the Strategy and Sustainable Development Committee, chaired by Annette Winkler, but also the Audit Committee, chaired by Bernard Delpit, were both very much involved in finalizing that plan that was published and was indeed very well-received. Indeed, now we are implementing this very plan. Now let's move on to the second part of my presentation and the draft resolution on the compensation of corporate officers.
This is, of course, our chairman, Jean-Dominique Senard, the CEO and the directors. The compensation of the chairman of the board, you have EUR 450,000. This is the fixed compensation that has remained unchanged the beginning of his term. You are also asked to vote for the 21st resolution, which provides for the self same amount, EUR 450,000. We move on to the two CEOs because, well, there was the ad interim CEO, Duncan, and then François , who is now there on a permanent basis. Well, first we start Luca de Meo. We had to have Luca de Meo's compensation on a pro rata basis from January 1st to 15th Jluy for Luca de Meo.
You have this figure, EUR 914,000. That's on the pro rata. It should have been, well, it's pro rata on EUR 1.7 billion that had been approved last year by the AGM. The variable portion, the maximum would have been 20%-25%. The actual attainment rate was because there are a number of financial criteria that were not met. We arrive at an 89% achievement rate, that again, on a pro rata basis, you arrive at something slightly above EUR 813,000. The performance shares that were attributed in 2023, 2024, 2025 are therefore canceled. There was no severance compensation, nor did we invoke a non-competition clause. That was for Luca de Meo.
For Duncan Minto, that was the period from 15th July to 30th July. He had an additional 300,000 on a pro rata basis. That came to EUR 13,636, that's for about two weeks, plus a variable component, so of that complement, that supplement rather. That was also on a pro rata basis, and we stuck to the same achievement rate as Luca de Meo, 89%. That came to about EUR 12,000. Then the third compensation package for the year 2025, that's François Provost from the period from 31 July to 31 December 2025. His contract provides EUR 1.2 million on a fixed basis.
On a pro rata, you get EUR 504,000 for the fixed part, about EUR 398,000 for the achievement rate. That was 79% out of 200% rather than 225%. You may remember for Luca de Meo it was 89% out of 225%. This is 79%, and that comes all together to performance shares, 31,250 performance shares. The, this is based, this is pro rata on the basis of 75,000. And of course, the value will be considered over three years. You have the compensation package, it's EUR 1.2, 200% variable, 75,000 performance shares, and then post-term benefits.
Under the performance conditions, we have two adjustments, minor adjustments. Number one, one of the criteria known as ROCE, that is return on capital employed. That criterion came from compensation for short term to long term. We have another criterion, and that replaces another criterion, which was a reduction in variable, and that used to be long term, and now it's short term. We switched, I mean, the criterion, ROCE and variable costs as it was switched positions between long and short term. There's another criterion, total shareholder return, TSR. It accounts for 25% of the compensation.
That bonus is now focused on a single criterion comparing Renault's performance in terms of shareholder return, compare that with a benchmark in the automotive industry and suppliers. We have a basket of other companies to compare with. The directors themselves for the year 2025, but also for 2026. You have it up on the table now. People used to this will recognize this because this table is identical to, has been, has remained unchanged since 2024. You have a fixed part of the fees for directors and then a variable part. We look at attendance rates and then a special compensation for chairs of the committee and for the lead director.
This, we had a total envelope of EUR 1.067 million, that accounts to about 71% of the total budget. The full budget was EUR 1.5 million. That was decided in 2018, and it has remained unchanged since. That's resolution number 16. Resolution number 23, that's the last one, that is for the compensation for directors for the year 2026. You have the same schedule, identical to 2025, and indeed has remained unchanged since 2024. This is my final statement in this meeting. I'd like to thank the Chairman of the Board, Jean-Dominique Senard, and all shareholders for giving me the privilege to work as Chair of the Governance Committee and as Lead Director.
Many thanks to you all.
Thank you very much, Pierre. I'd like to take advantage of this opportunity to highlight how much Pierre has contributed to the life of your company. Pierre has, over the last eight years, been through all of the adventures of Renault, and heaven knows that there have been adventures, and certainly, I know what I'm talking about. He's always been with us. He has always proved to have a lot of the capacity to stand apart and look at things objectively. He's not just worked for Renault as a member of the audit committee, as a chairman of the committee of compensations and benefits, and also the Lead Director, which is quite a heavy role. He has been voted back every year. He also worked for Nissan.
He was a member of the Nissan board up to last year. I can, you know, witness to this personally because I was there with him. We both attended board meetings, we were, he was a member of the committee for appointments, nominations, he was extremely careful to protect all the relations, the interests of Renault, but also to create the best possible relationship with Nissan. Very often, these meetings took place after hours and hours of air travel and sometimes at 4 A.M. in the morning, they lasted for a long time. We managed to energize each other. Really, personally, I owe him a lot because he's helped me so much to think things through properly.
I think you will all agree that, we can express in the name of the group and in our name for our real gratitude. Thank you so much, Pierre, for all of this.
Now we come to a moment which is an important one in this meeting, which is the discussions that we are delighted to be able to have with you. Before we start the Q&A session, I wanted to inform you that answers to the written questions that were sent to us by post by certain shareholders have been put onto our website. You have the written answers there. Quitterie de Pelleport will now outline a few guidelines to ensure our discussion runs smoothly. Thank you. Quitterie, can you tell us what we need to know, please?
Well, in order to ensure that the largest number of you can ask your questions, we are going to take direct short questions for one minute each. If you ask questions, please come out to the end of your row, and the hostesses and hosts have microphones, so please ask for a microphone, and you can ask your question or make your comment. Jean-Dominique, you have the floor again.
Well, that was strict, and we are counting on all of you to follow them. Let me remind you that the Shareholders' Consultative Committee and the shareholders day obviously does make it easier for us to exchange information with each other. Last year, when the last day that we had for shareholders on the 1st of April, François and I were able to have a direct dialog with many shareholders, and That's really important to us. I'd like to show you a few pictures of that day. It'll show you what the atmosphere was like.
[Presentation]
That really was a very interesting day. What I suggest we should do is start with a question sent in by one of the members of our Shareholders' Consultative Committee. I think it's Mireille Lucca.
Yes. Hello everyone. We'd like to thank you for the presentation of these results and the encouraging prospects. Here's a question that the Shareholders' Consultative Committee decided to ask. Renault developed the Twingo in two years in collaboration with Chinese partners. Is this your model for developing future vehicles? Would this not result in staff cuts in the engineering department?
I'm going to give the floor to François to answer this first question.
Well, yes, as I said earlier, we have a development center in China, as I was telling you, to try and learn how the Chinese car makers have managed to get such an advance on us in terms of technology. With the Twingo, we were able to learn this.
The whole challenge of futuREady is to be able to extend that knowledge to all the other cars we are going to build. We at the Technocentre, with our teams and with our suppliers. The transformation of the engineering department is really at the heart of the transformation of the group in the years to come. Above all, it is, it's one ambition. It means that we have to prove that we can actually do this in Europe. This, it's, of course, the battle is about skills. All of our engineers need to be able to adapt to these new ways of working, to the new technologies that are coming in, batteries, software, electronic components. This is, you know, we have to change the way we work, for example, with our suppliers.
You know, after having for many, many, many years learned to make cars in three or four years, we now have to manage to do it in two years. This also means that our engineering and technical centers have to be specialized, because so far they were all developing new models, and we then had to rationalize. We are going to change this. We are concentrating the heart of our engineering in France, and especially for the new technological roadmaps. It's true that when we talk about the transformation of our engineering department, obviously the press immediately start talking about layoffs. Above all, we want to prove that a European company like ours is able, capable of being at world-class level in terms of engineering and development.
We are doing this in an open and transparent manner with the support of our trade union partners. We have to do it in the right order.
Y es, thank you very much, François. You can see that for decades, you know, our Asian counterparts imitated what we did. Now we are doing the same to them to try and catch up what we can catch up. What François has said is very much, you know, the path we're going to follow. Okay, we can take a question in the room. We can take a question, mic number five, please.
Yes. Hello, Mr. Chairman, Denis Branche. You talked about the fact that you only have a year left. You didn't really say what's gonna happen about governance in the future.
You know, what are we going to do to ensure that the separation of the two functions should continue, and what would be your recommendation on the new organization?
Well, obviously, you know, we are going to start discussing all of this in the weeks to come, but there's no emergency because we've got a year ahead of us. To answer your question, of course, it is the Group's governance team that will take the decision. I would say that today our governance is working pretty well. We've seen that the separation of the functions was useful over the last few months. I think we are going to continue down this road. For anything else, it's a little too early to talk about, but I hope I answered your question.
Yes, thank you.
Okay, let's take mic number four.
Hello, Mr. Chairman. I'm the secretary of the Renault Share Fund. In this very turbulent time, we are going to have a subscription for shares. That decision is coming up. It may be a difficult decision. Could you maybe, to guide us, tell us how would you define a shareholding employee?
Yes, you're right. We could have mentioned this earlier, says Mr. Senard. The question of, you know, employee shareholding is a vital one for us. Over the last few years, we very clearly set out to achieve a rate of at least 10% of the capital of the company held by the employees of the group. We are at about 6%, I think.
We've, we've improved because it used to be 2.5. We haven't got as far as we wanted to, but we're going to continue, and we will carry on year after year until we achieve this goal. I think, I hope that in the next three or four years, maybe five years, I hope we will achieve this objective. I think it's really important because this group does actually belong to its employees in a way, and the fact that it should belong to them in terms of shareholding is part of basic capitalism, I think. We've always done what we could to encourage this. I promise you, we are not going to give up on this. We are determined, I just hope that it will happen easily.
I do speak to the association of employees, shareholding employees very regularly, and I think for them it's really important. I think everyone and the board as well, everyone here shares my point of view. Because given the kind of times that face us, the robustness of the social capital of the group is extremely important, and it's one of our big advantages. Thank you very much. Okay, let's take mic number three, please.
Hello, everyone. I have a question. I'd like to know whether Renault is going to keep its margins or increase them, because you're going to sell fewer cars than before in a very competitive market.
Thank you very much. François, maybe we could just reaffirm what you said earlier. Says François Provost.
You're right. I did say that there was a lot of pressure on prices, competitive pressure. This has been obviously created by the arrival of our new Chinese competitors onto the European market. What we are doing really is to concentrate and reduce our policy of platforms. We've, we are going to have fewer platforms. We've restructured engineering. We've very clearly set up cross car line, which means that the modules that are key, for example, the cockpit, things like that, we need to have very, very strong commonization at the right level of cost.
For this, where we put the value of our for our customers in each car depends on what kind of existing modules we can use, and we can set that up per model and per type. If I take the example of platforms, we have one dedicated electric platform for small cars like the R5. The new platform that I showed you earlier for the C-segment, which is also going to be electric and electrified through the range extender. Then we have the RGMP, which is our multi-energy worldwide platform. It's for Dacia in Europe and Renault outside of Europe. As you can see, we've really, we have a much more healthy policy for platforms.
We've streamlined everything. We can focus our investments on the things that really do add value for our customers. For example, design, that means we can distinguish our brands from each other and distinguish our products as well. I'm often asked a question about electric cars. It's true that we have a lot of margins. We have a lot of problems, sorry, on the margins for EVs. We have a better profit margin on each car compared to its earlier version, so or the earlier cars.
if you compare to Mégane and Scénic, which are in the C segment, but which were our first electric cars, did not have a great margin, but our margins for the R5, the R4, and the Twingo are better, although these are smaller cars, they are in the B segment. We need to maintain these margins. We need to be able to invest in the long term in our products.
Yes. Thank you very much, François. I think we've answered your question. Let's go to the other side of the room again, and we'll take number 5.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, everyone. I understood that Renault wants to be ready for the future.
Mr. CEO, what I heard from you actually made me feel a bit giddy because in my memory, I'm thinking of all the problems that have struck your competitor, Stellantis, which was far too ambitious earlier last year, and I'm very happy to not be a shareholder with Stellantis. You know, I agree with an earlier shareholder is that I'm very glad that it's that there's a double dual hedge to Renault. I understand, Mr. Provost, that you are very ambitious, that's part of your role, but I'm also very happy that there should be a chairman who can mitigate any excessive ambition. I'll give you an example in the production of electric cars. Stellantis is really putting the brakes on, Renault is speeding up. For a shareholder like me, it's a bit paradoxical.
You wonder what's happening, and I don't really know what to think. I'd like you to reassure us on this, please. Why has Renault decided to go in the opposite direction to what its competitor is doing? The second thing is, I have this brochure, the invitation brochure that I had to print out. I had to print it out, but I have a request for you. I know you can't give me an answer today, but I really hope that Renault will think about whether or not from next year onwards, if a shareholder asks for it, could you send them a printed brochure? I do admit that there are shareholders like me who are much more comfortable with paper than with a digital version.
Yes. Thank you very much. Yes. Certainly, we've noted that, we will take that into consideration. I promise you, I do understand. I will let François answer the question that you asked about Stellantis. You know that we don't really make comments on what our competitors do. I suppose, you know, François can give you a more general answer. It's very nice of you to say that I keep a sharp eye on any extravagances, but I assure you that with François today and his leadership team, my role has been made much easier. It's really very serene actually now for me. François.
Well, as you know, when we presented futuREady on the 10th of March, many of the journalists said to us, "You're the last ones to still believe in the electric vehicle." Two weeks ago, we were launching futuREady in India. Journalists as well, of course, they were Indian journalists, but they always, they always think the same thing. You know, are you sure you want to, you know, you want to slow down on electric cars? You know, the Middle East conflict had broken out between the two. What really sets us apart is that we take a decision, and we stick to it. Electric cars are not just good because they happen to be the fashion. It's because they are the best solution for our customers.
Our customers who have switched to ICEs will refuse to go back to ICEs. Of course, we have to ensure that the prices are lower. We have to be able to give people the confidence. Little by little, they will learn that you don't run out of battery that easily. We think that electric vehicles are positive. We think that the electric cars in the mix will continue to grow. I think that, you know, I think 2035 is crazy. In general, electric cars is a very good idea. We saw immediately with the price of petrol that has gone up, we have electric car sales that have increased. We haven't changed our minds even since then. We think hybridization is a good idea.
That's why we've got a second pillar. We will always keep plan A and plan B. With the long-term idea of achieving 50/50% electric vehicles and 50% hybrid vehicles. You know, all of this is happening, it's all working out in this context that we can all see is so uncertain, where, you know, the European Union decides what is good for the customer. The leadership team and I believe that you need to think about your customer. Everything we've put into the futuREady plan, we are thinking of our customers. We think that with range extenders, many families will be ready to switch to electric cars. We have at least 60% car people who have family cars who, after 2030, will be able to switch to either electric cars or range extender cars.
They'll realize little by little that it really is not a problem, the range. There are many people who cannot charge their batteries easily, or they don't want electric cars. Well, in that case our offer will still be great for them. You know, we are going to stay consistent and coherent with our choices. We are not gonna switch one day to all electric and the next day to all diesel. I think that it's the customer whom we keep in mind when we make the choices for Renault Group.
Yes. Thank you very much, François. It's true that, you know, all these questions about electric cars, the current situation certainly does send us some very strong messages on electric vehicles, you know?
You have to keep in mind that 100 km in an electric car compared to 100 km in an ICE costs you half as much. These are elements that people are realizing, and that is why there might be a change of paradigm on that. Okay, let's take mic number four.
Yes. Hello, sir. Hello, everyone. This is the ninth AGM that I've been to in the year, and it's the first time that I've not been asked, I've been told that I couldn't get the consolidated accounts.
I really insisted, sometime ago, a legal officer from Renault came and said to me, "Well, we don't give those anymore." I said, "Well, these documents have to be given to shareholders." He showed it to me under cellophane. I said I would like to have a copy, and he said, "No." The documents are there, but you can't really look at them. Mr. Chairman, seriously, how can this kind of thing happen? Don't tell me that it's about the planet or CO2 or paper or anything else. The more trees we plant and the more we cut down and pulp, the better it is for the planet.
I don't think that you should refuse to show shareholders the audited consolidated accounts. My second question is the dividend. I'm very happy to get a dividend, but is it really reasonable given the context that we're in today and the big losses of Renault, I know that the French state is heavily present in your capital. I know that the French state needs money, and in fact, the French state is dying to gobble up anything it can get. I think, would it not be a better idea to keep the cash in order to invest when times are tough? Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you for your question. I'm not gonna talk about CO2 or plastic, but, you know, consolidated accounts are public, so I don't see why you shouldn't be able to consult them.
I really don't think there's any reason to not let people consult these accounts, right? Quitterie, our Chief Legal Officer, will confirm this.
I think you're referring to the universal document. It is published, it's on the website. If you want Yes, you know, I'm coming here, so I would like to get the document before the AGM, so I can ask questions.
Yes, I do understand. Very clear. Very good. I'm sorry if you were frustrated. You know, it's just we'll try and make do better next time.
For the dividend, what I can say is that, you know, our whole board was unanimous on this decision that was taken, because I do believe that for our shareholders, of whom you are one, and for your loyalty, you said this is your ninth AGM, I understand. I'm glad that you're loyal to us. The dividend is really important for the life of the group. We are asked very often for a dividend, your perception is very reasonable. There are circumstances when times were difficult, we did not give out a dividend. You may remember we stopped giving our dividends because we were in a very bad situation. COVID didn't help us in any way, we decided to stop distributing the dividend. We started again.
Very sincerely, the level that we are handing out is very reasonable. We have some shareholders sometimes who ask for a lot more. They say, "Well, otherwise, you know, you know, why don't you buy back our shares?" and all of that. We try and resist that because we need to be coherent. If you do international comparisons, you'll see that what I'm saying is happening everywhere. Obviously, if we thought that there was a major risk on Renault over the next few months and years, we wouldn't be saying this to you, but that's not the case. You have understood that we really are confident in our future over the next few years with what we've set up. I have heard what you said.
You've been very cautious and prudent, but we consider that what we are doing is also prudent, but it's really important to build loyalty with our shareholders. Thank you very much for your questions. I suggest we take mic number three.
Hello everyone. Mr. Chairman, you reminded us of the race wins by Renault and Alpine in history. I'd like to know what exactly is Renault going to do about motor racing, because last year Mr. de Meo told us would not simply be an also-ran in motorsports.
Yes. Thank you for your question. Maybe François can answer it.
Yes. When I looked at the subject, my first priority was to try and stabilize Formula 1, our Formula 1 department, because it was in a very tough situation.
I hope that you will see that the results will bear out what we have done with the management, and we hope you'll see the result, better results this year. We were kind of scattered over all sorts of motorsports, but we were not chalking up the right kind of results at all. Apart from Formula 1, the rest of the autosports corresponded to about one vehicle per year. As the MD, it was my job to make choices, and so I had to give priority to a product. I knew we couldn't do everything, so we announced that little by little, we would prioritize Formula 1 and just concentrate on Formula 1. I hope that next year you'll be able to tell us that we were not also-ran.
Yes. All the more so because, you know, this year they've changed the rules as well. François knows a lot more detail about this than I do, but it certainly hope makes us hope that with a new engine and with a new car, we will perform better. We, fingers crossed, of course, you know, but we all hope for the best. Thank you very much for your question. Let's come back here to mic number five.
Yes. Hello, everyone. I have a question. Today, as an employee of Renault and as a shareholder and as well as somebody who drives an electric vehicle every day, we've had to put up with the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz every day, and we've seen that it's true people are buying more electric vehicles than before.
There are a few customers who are still holdouts. As customers, as employees, we try and convince them, but it's very difficult because range really is something that people are afraid of. What you presented earlier, the range extender, I hope that that will really help us to break into the market. I'd like to know when exactly are these RGEV going to be on the market?
Yes, thank you. We want to develop every car we develop in two years. In two years' time. You know, maybe next year we will tell you it's gonna be even faster. No, it's a huge investment in terms of technology. two years. two years.
As you can see, you know, as you said, you told me to keep an eye on what's going on, and as you can see, I am. I'm quite sure that, you know, these, the range extender will help people to accept electric vehicles more easily. Let's come back to mic number four.
Good afternoon, everyone. I have two questions and a comment. My first question concerns the Gordini brand. What exactly do you plan to do with it? After all, this is a very prestigious brand, and given, you know, how things are going right now, Renault's sporty models are now called the Alpine version. I might suggest that the name of Gordini might be associated with maybe the sports versions of Dacia, maybe. Who knows? Why not?
What do you think of that, and what are your intentions from that point of view? My second question concerns Motrio. I know that Motrio, I think, is a Renault subsidiary, unless that's changed, and concerns more than 1,000 garages that were very often earlier, that used to be Renault workshops and garages. On the one hand, does the general public not realize that it's Renault? Most people, you know, when I talk to them, they've never even heard of Motrio, let alone know that it's a Renault brand. Do you plan the 1,000 or over 1,000 Motrio garages as sales outlets for Renault in the 9,000 dealerships that you talked about?
Do these 1,000 or 1,200 Motrio outlets, do you count them as Renault sales outlets as well or not? My comment now is, now, you really presented the beautiful façade of the company. You were very good at it, but you did not present the back of the building. You know, there's a few rubbish dumps in the backyard. Not just Renault, it happens everywhere. I'm not trying to denigrate Renault or anything like that because, you know, the this company fed me for 33 years, and I would like to really pay homage to the work that you're doing and the beautiful range that Renault has right now. I'd like to know, you know, what about headcount?
How many employees does Renault have, and what proportion of temp workers do you have in that? I've been informed that jobs are becoming more precarious within Renault. There's a lot of temp workers. There's a lot of subcontractors and they are working in illegal conditions. two, th ree years ago, the company had a legal problem for illegal labor. This had happened before in 2004 under Monsieur Schweitzer. It is, has once again been taken to court for illegal labor, so that subcontractors who are integrated into the company, things like that. Please give me some details on this.
Thank you very much. That's a lot of subjects that you've mentioned. François will start.
Yes, let's take them one by one. The Gordini brand, of course we are keeping the brand. There's no doubt about that. There are no projects right now. We've got nothing that we are planning. I noted your suggestion. The priority of the group is to make a success of Alpine. It's a huge mission. I don't know how many European car makers are continuing to develop a premium sports brand in Europe. We are doing it, that's what we are focusing on. The A290 is working really well. The A390 that we've just launched has also been very well received.
You know that we're working on the platform that's also going to be renewing the Alpine A110, and that's what I want our teams to concentrate on to ensure that it is credible to have a French brand that is premium and sporty. Motrio, the 1,000 Motrio outlets are not counted as Renault dealerships.
This network is working pretty well, especially in France. We're going to continue with it. From a more overall point of view, my priority is to reinforce the retention rate within the Renault distribution network and to resell the car for a second life. Since you know us well, you know that, you know, we've always concentrated on customer loyalty during the warranty period, and I think Renault is among the best in that field, so the four or five years. We've managed that as well for electric cars.
We want to get back the cars for a second life and to be able to sell it again through the Renault network as used cars. This will give our customers affordable EVs. Customers will have a much longer contact with us during the second life of the car. One of the reasons why people don't buy electric cars, if you think, "Well, will I buy a four-year-old electric car because there's only four years left on the warranty for the battery?" Now what will happen is that the customer will buy a used car within the Renault network, but they will start with an eight-year guarantee for the battery. It's much better. That's what we plan to do, but we're keeping the Motrio network up and running.
As far as your last question is concerned, we are still keeping some temp workers in order to face up to the variability of the market. Sometimes it's difficult for us to recruit people in our plants, and every year we recruit long-term contract holders in our plants. We keep this balance. I can't comment on a concrete case, but it's quite normal that we are following up very, very closely the fact that we respect the rules and the laws, and our human resources teams are very, very alert on that. I'm quite sure that we are among the most virtuous and most benchmarked companies in this field.
Yes. Thank you very much. I'm sorry, we've got too many questions. We have to move along, please, if you don't mind. I'd like to ensure that everyone can get a turn. Thank you very much for your question. Now, let's take 4. Go ahead. Let's take line mic 4. Please keep it short. Please keep it short.
Yes. Hello. One short remark. As an FCP unit holder, I'm surprised to see that we were not given the same level of information as other shareholders this year, contrary to what was done earlier. You know, will you publish the results and the turnover and the profit for each of the brands of the group? For example, Dacia and Alpine.
Yes. For the FCP units, I'll take the information. I didn't know this. I thought that everything was the same. I thought all elements had been transmitted, at least electronically. Yes, by either by post or by email. You should have received this. Maybe you could check whether you had a problem with the connection, but definitely we'll look into it. I am astonished.
Yes, we do communicate on volumes, but not on turnover. We don't plan to change that. I think the volumes does, do give you quite a clear idea of how our activity is evolving, so we don't communicate on the detail of the turnover figure within each model or within each brand.
Okay? Shall we take mic three now, please?
Yes. Hello, Mr. Chairman. In terms of production, in terms of production tool, France Inter said at the beginning of the week that there was an agreement apparently between Wandercraft and Mistral AI and Renault on the manufacturing of humanoid robots for use on the assembly line and also maybe outside. Could you say a couple of words on that, please, for us?
Yes. This is a really important subject, and it's strategic for us. I was telling you that we were not going to diversify in all directions, but robotization is important because, you know, this, I think, is something is a sector in which we can contribute. I think we can also contribute in terms of scaling up of production, design to cost as well, and our partnership with Wandercraft has been extremely fruitful, and we do intend to reinforce it even further. As far as Renault is concerned, we are going to start using these robots for industrial applications.
In fact, we've got a couple of robots, the very first ones that are being tried out on the assembly line in working positions that are very complicated with a lot of diversity and very bad economy. The first thing is, for example, is putting in tires because you have to go and pick up different kinds of tires from different places, and tires are extremely heavy. This is really something that interests us. I think that Renault manufacturing on this subject, like on digitization, on AI, we are the best, or at least among the best worldwide. I think, I believe we are better than the Chinese. I think in manufacturing, we are ahead of them.
This is, you know, this is very much part of the way we are modernizing our manufacturing. It's quite crazy to see. It's amazing to see how this robot works. It's really.
Yes. Yes, I have tried. It's a very tough position. I know that. I know that. It is pretty impressive when you see how it works because it's interesting to have the industrial vision on this because it's certainly going to help us a lot. Okay, we are almost at the end. I can see that we still have questions, but maybe we'll take one last question or maybe very quickly two questions so that we can answer them, and then we will. Let's take mic four, and if that's quick, we'll take another one.
Yes. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for your presentations. I have two quick questions, one concerning data and the other one on competition. In 2027, I think in February 2027, we are going to have digital passports for batteries, and then it's going to be Renault as the OEM that is going to be completely responsible and accountable for all of the components of the value chain of the battery. In that framework, you have signed a lot of partnerships and joint ventures with foreign companies. I wanted to know, within these partnerships, can you really guarantee the sovereignty of the data and the fact that Renault can access this data without having to be under any kind of proprietary protocol?
Can you confirm that the traceability of cybersecurity, of hosting and everything else is contractually signed and that this can be verified by regular audits, please? Very quickly for my second question, you have a partnership with the Chinese group called Minth for the manufacturing of battery blocks, I think, in recycled aluminum and they're there in plants like Ruitz and Liévin where OPmobility is also present in Ruitz. I have two quick questions for you on this. There was a communiqué on the subject asking French and European authorities to act very quickly to safeguarding of the European automotive suppliers.
If you've signed a joint venture with a Chinese group and they are being subsidized by the Chinese government, how do you reconcile that with the commitment that you signed two years ago for the manifesto of the competitiveness of this stream, of the automotive stream, so as not to destabilize the historic suppliers of Renault, who actually played the game for Renaulution and helped to improve your work? This is really something that the automotive stream is very worried about. Thank you very much.
I'll just take one last question, and then I would have, I think, hopefully covered everyone, and then we'll answer all the questions at the same time. Please keep it short. Please, if you don't mind. Thank you very much.
I've been a shareholder of Renault for very many years, and I'll keep this quick. The problem is the price. The price of electric cars is really the first and foremost barrier. The Renault 5 is a great success, but it's at the same price as bigger sedans. You said that the price would go down, and it would. After how many years is the price going to start going down? Concretely, for example, the Renault 5 is sold at EUR 30,000. How many thousands of EUR can it come down by and when? That's my first question. The second question also, I think is interesting, which my neighbor asked me to ask. At the level of now. You have a defense branch.
I'm sure that there's something that you can do in the defense industry because after all, the state is a shareholder. Have you got orders from them? It's annoying. I'm sorry. It's because there's an echo in my ears, says the gentleman. What sort of things are you manufacturing? Those are my two questions. Thank you very much.
Let's take all of these questions together. Let's keep it simple. You know that this is public. We do have a relationship with the DGA, which asked us some time ago to take a look at what we could do for machines or vehicles that could be used by our armies. We are answering their request, obviously. Right now, we are working on the DGA on projects for drones, for example. I'm sure you've heard about this.
We are thinking about UAVs, obviously, but also on UGVs in association with partners. This would obviously be for the French army when we get the orders. We have a great relationship with the State, with the French State on these subjects. I've always said that Renault would always respond to a call to arms if this French State asked for it. Let's take a look at electric batteries. Our strategy is not to make batteries, but it is to be part of the value chain. We have a laboratory in Lardy, which has been completely transformed, and it makes it possible for us to test battery chemistry, different chemistries ourselves.
It helps us to test the compliance of what the suppliers give us and also what the suppliers give to our competitors to ensure that we've got the best. We do all we can to drive down the costs and also, therefore, ensure even more traceability for all of the elements that you pointed out. Now, as far as cybersecurity and data are concerned, our strategy is to host most of our data in, on the cloud, which is what most big corporate groups are doing. I mean, there's definitely an interest in that. It's quite obvious because, you know, that's not our job. Also, as far as sovereignty is concerned, it's all hosted in Europe. Cybersecurity is an absolute priority, and in fact, it's an obsession.
There's not a single month with the leadership team, we don't have at least one session on cybersecurity. The board asks us to let them know all the time how we are doing in terms of cybersecurity. We take it very seriously. This is not just an IT subject. This is a subject that's followed up very closely by the executive committee. Minto, you may like it, or you may not like it, but they were the very first to install a plant to make battery packs and aluminum in France. You were talking about the diversification of Minto on big plastic parts, probably. The choice of Renault is not really that easy in terms of competitiveness.
Toyota makes all of its big plastic parts in its own plants. We did think about it. In France and in Europe, if you trust your suppliers, including OPmobility, we decided not to bring that into question, but we have a panel of suppliers. We expect all of our suppliers to be competitive. We know exactly at what price we need to buy our plastic parts. That brings me to your next question on our relationship with our suppliers. We've transformed our relationship with our suppliers because it used to be very transactional.
Because we know what the price is that we need to be at, but we have to start with the principle that some of our customers, some of our competitors will probably have a plant, a screwdriver plant here, but all the parts will come from China. We know the price in China. Our target cost is the prices in China, plus immigration, plus, sorry, importing and assembly here. Now the problem is: How do we achieve this target? We have to work with our suppliers. We have to do away with all the specificities that we had that really was difficult for our suppliers. We are going to now do work with our suppliers in order to achieve the profitability that they need. Ask the suppliers.
I'm quite sure that they are happy to partner with us. We are the first ones to have done away with the system of tokens. We are the only ones, I think. We don't have any tokens with our partners anymore. We work, we regularly reimburse the investments that our suppliers make. They know that they're going to be paid in cash very regularly. Now, the price of electric cars. It's true for electric cars as well as ICE cars. Europe is the only continent where the market has not achieved the same level as it was before COVID. The reason for that is because we had a tsunami of regulations that have added to the cost of our cars.
Between now and 2030, there's going to be 103 new regulations that will apply to the automotive sector. We, as Renault, we're asking the EC to change their software and to go from a logic of complete decarbonization with a lot of regulations, then people can't buy cars anymore, to something that's a bit more reasonable, where we can concentrate on driving down prices. We are aiming to have a price of electric cars by 2030, which will be the same as that of a hybrid car. You already covered the arms, the weapons.
Well, thank you, François. The point François made about suppliers is quintessential. I mentioned the gamble taken by France and Renault's decision to place in France all the value added in the electric car business, and we do, of course, pay attention to that business. Our suppliers are very close indeed, many of them in France itself. I mean, worst-case scenario would be for Asian OEMs gaining a foothold in France or elsewhere in Europe and using only Asian suppliers. On that, let me be clear. It is, of course, essential that not just French, but European authorities should take a stand on that and have firm rules about suppliers.
Having said all that, I'd like to thank you all for these, all these questions, very astute questions and covering a wide spectrum of issues. Now, I will need you, the shareholders, for the vote. In terms of vote, well, you'll get your money's worth, as it were, because there are many resolutions up for vote. I will ask Quitterie to go, to tell you all about the process and give you instructions.
Yes. Thank you, Chairman, and ladies and gentlemen. This meeting is called upon to deliberate on 36 resolutions, of which 25 are ordinary and 11 extraordinary. Before presenting each of the resolutions, I'd like to tell you that the number of shares is 198,825,611 shares, representing 68.38% of the shares carrying voting rights in the ordinary meeting, and 198,825,611 shares, or 68.38% of the shares carrying voting rights in the extraordinary meeting. Same numbers. Anyway, the quorum required for the validity of the proceedings of both the ordinary and extraordinary general meetings have been formed. Let's watch this video explaining how the voting device works.
[Presentation]
These are the usual instructions. I believe there are subtitles, if not, it basically reminds you that you're supposed to press the green, yellow, or red button, depending on whether you're for or against or whether you abstain. You're supposed to switch off your mobile phones during the vote and return the voting boxes after the AGM.
All right. Well, if you don't need any additional instructions, we start with resolutions in the ordinary part. Resolution 1 concerns the approval of the annual accounts for 2025, showing a loss of EUR 1 billion, 242 million, 244,191.75. Let me remind you, these are the separate accounts of Renault S.A. and not the consolidated accounts of the Renault Group, which are the subject of the next resolution. Voting is now open.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. Resolution 2 concerns the approval of the Group's consolidated accounts for the year 2025, showing a loss of EUR 10 million, 794,555.31. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution has passed, is adopted. Number three, allocation of the profit for the year 2025 and setting the dividend. The dividend is set as EUR 2.2 per share for the year 2025. The total amount would be EUR 637,648,741.40. The balance of the retained earnings after distribution will amount to EUR 8,588,740,357.46. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. Number four, take note of the statutory auditor's report on the factors used to determine the amount of the remuneration of redeemable shares. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. Number five, to take note of the information relating to the related party agreements and commitments entered into and authorized in previous years and whose performance continued in 2025 as described in the auditor's report. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. Moving on to resolution number six, to approve the related party agreements entitled Umbrella Agreements entered into between the company and Nissan on March 31. Nissan will not take part in the vote.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. Number seven, to approve the related party agreement entitled Termination Agreement of the Ampère investment agreement entered into between company and Nissan on March 31, 2025. Nissan will not take part in this vote.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. The next one is number eight, again, the related party agreement, second amendment to the framework agreement entered into between the company and Nissan. Nissan, of course, is not taking part in this vote. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. The next one is called Second Amendment and Restatement of the new alliance agreement, entered into between company and Nissan on March 31, 2025. Nissan will not take part in the vote. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. Resolution number 10 proposes to ratify the co-opting of Mr. François Provost as a director to replace Mr. Luca de Meo for the remainder of the latter's term of office, i.e., until the end of the 2027 AGM. Please vote now. Sorry.
Voting is now closed. Resolution number 11, to appoint Mrs. Marie-Josée Doncieux as an independent director for a term of four years. Please vote now.
Voting is now closed and the resolution is adopted. I should like to congratulate Marie-Josée Doncieux and welcome her to the board.
Number 12, to renew KPMG's appointment as statutory auditor for a period of six years. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. We move on to number 13, to renew the appointment of Forvis Mazars as statutory auditor for a period of six years. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. Number 14, to renew KPMG's mandate as statutory auditor responsible for the sustainability assurance engagement for a period of six years. Please vote now.
Voting is closed. Resolution adopted. We move on to 15, to renew the appointment of Forvis Mazars as statutory auditor responsible for certifying sustainability-related information for a period of six years. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. We move on to number 16. This is approving the information relating to the compensation for the year 2025 for all corporate officers. Vote. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. We move on to number 17, to approve the compensation paid during or awarded for the year 2025 to Jean-Dominique Senard, who is the chairman of the board. Please vote now.
Voting is closed. The resolution is adopted. We move on to number 18, to approve the remuneration paid during or awarded for the year 2025 to Mr. Luca de Meo, CEO till 15th July, 2025.
Voting is closed. The resolution is adopted. Number 19, to approve the compensation paid during or awarded for the year 2025 to Mr. Duncan Minto, acting CEO from 15th July to 30th July, 2025.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. Number 20, to approve the compensation paid during or awarded for the year 2025 to Mr. François Provost, CEO, with effect from 31 July, 2025. Please vote now.
Voting is closed. The resolution is adopted. Number 21, to approve the remuneration policy for the chairman of the board for the year 2026. Please vote now.
Please vote now. Sorry. Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. Number 22, to approve the compensation policy for the CEO for the year 2026. Please vote now.
Voting is closed and the resolution is adopted. We move on to number 23, to approve the director's compensation policy for the year 2026. Please vote now.
Voting is closed. Resolution adopted. Number 24, to authorize the Board of Directors to buy and sell shares of the company for a maximum period of 18 months and up to a limit of 10% of the share capital. The authorization enables the company to implement its own share buyback program. Please vote now.
Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted. We move on to resolutions falling within the remit of the extraordinary general meeting. Purpose of the 25th resolution is to authorize the Board of Directors to reduce the company share capital by canceling shares for maximum period of 18 months and up to a limit of 10% of the share capital. This resolution is linked to the previous one concerning the share buyback program. Please vote now.
Voting is closed, and the resolution is adopted. Number 26, to authorize the Board to increase the share capital by capitalizing reserves, profits, or premiums. I'd like to draw your attention to the fact that the meeting will vote on this resolution subject to the quorum and majority requirements applicable to ordinary general meetings. Please vote now.
Voting is closed, the resolution is adopted. Number 27, to delegate to the Board of Directors for a period of 26 months, the authority to increase the share capital whilst maintaining shareholders' preemptive subscription rights. Please vote now.
Voting is closed, the resolution is adopted. Number 28, to delegate to the Board of Directors for a period of 26 months, the power to increase the share capital with removal of shareholders' preemptive subscription rights and with optional priority period in the context of public offerings other than private placements. Please vote now.
Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted. Number 29 is to delegate to the Board of Directors for a period of 26 months, the power to increase the share capital with removal of shareholders' preemptive subscription rights by way of private placements with restricted circles of investors or qualified investors. Please vote now.
Voting is closed, and the resolution is adopted. Number 30 is to delegate to the Board of Directors for a period of 26 months, the powers necessary to increase the share capital in consideration of contributions in kind that may be made to the company. Please vote now.
Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted. 31st resolution is to delegate to the Board of Directors, for a period of 26 months, the authority to carry out capital increases reserved for the group employees who are members of a company savings scheme with removing of the shareholders' preemptive subscription rights. Please vote now.
Voting is closed, the resolution is adopted. Number 32, to amend paragraph C of Article 11 of the company's articles of association relating to the procedures for appointing directors representing employees in order to comply with the new regulations on gender balance on Board of Directors. Please vote now.
Voting is closed, the resolution is adopted. Number 33, to amend paragraph D of Article 11 of the company's articles of association relating to the procedures for appointing the director representing employee shareholders in order to take account of the new regulations on gender balance on Board of Directors. Please vote now.
Voting is closed. The resolution is adopted, sorry. Number 34 is to amend Article 13 of the company's articles of association to clarify the procedures for the Board of Directors to take decisions by a written consultation. Please vote now. Resolution is carried. We move on to number 35, to amend paragraph A of Article 11 and Articles 12, 13, 15, 17, and 25, and 28 of the company's articles of association, in particular to comply with recent legislative and regulatory changes. Please vote now.
Voting is closed, and the resolution is adopted. Finally, the 36th and final resolution aims to grant the necessary powers to carry out the legal formalities required following this AGM. Please vote now.
Voting is closed. The resolution is indeed adopted. Indeed, all resolutions have been put to the vote. The detailed results of the votes will be published on the company's website, and I'll now give the floor back to the Chairman of the Board to conclude this AGM.
Thank you, everyone. Thank you for this positive vote and many thanks to Quitterie de Pelleport for this before. It's worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records. So many resolutions, all of them adopted. There's nothing left on the agenda, the meeting stands adjourned. I'd like to thank you once again.
For those of you who wish to meet us, personally, François and the leadership team, you know, to take a closer look at the beautiful cars here up on display, this is your chance. To anybody listening, this is the end of the broadcast.