Dialogue with Renault CTO Bruno: In 22 months, a China-developed car became a best-seller in Europe

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Author | Zhou Zhiyu

Renault Group CTO Philippe Brunet has visited China 20 times in the past three years, and this year, the first half alone marks his third trip. For a CTO managing engineering centers across seven countries globally, this frequency is itself a statement.

"China is like a compass," Brunet said in a conversation with Wallstreetcn on June 17. "Here, I can learn about the latest technological development directions, and better understand Chinese consumer needs. Because I believe the needs of Chinese consumers today may become the needs of European consumers in one to two years."

Two years ago, this statement might not have resonated with Europe's auto industry. At the time, the debate over electrification was fierce, with many car executives openly questioning the pure electric path and redirecting efforts toward gasoline car development. But the situation changed faster than anticipated. Rising oil prices and the Middle East situation sharply expanded the market share of electric vehicles in Europe; Renault's EV sales in Europe have climbed from less than 20% a year ago to about 50% (as of April 2026).

Meanwhile, the affordable EV market in Europe is practically empty. There are barely any pure electric models under 20,000 euros, and consumers seeking a reasonably priced EV have extremely limited options. This is exactly Renault's opportunity — it has always targeted the mainstream mass market rather than luxury brands.

Proving this opportunity is a car called Twingo E-Tech. It was developed in Shanghai, manufactured in Slovenia, and sold in Europe starting at 19,490 euros. Its development cycle was 22 months, setting a record as Renault’s fastest ever, and current orders have doubled expectations.

One car can't explain everything. But Twingo proved a possibility: using China’s technological ecosystem and speed to make electric cars European consumers can afford. The real challenge comes next — whether this model can move from one car to the norm depends on how much a century-old carmaker is willing to change.

Not Technology for Technology's Sake

Brunet repeatedly emphasized in the conversation: Renault is not a company that pursues tech overload.

"We never pursue blind technological overload, never do technology for technology’s sake," he said. "We focus on developing technologies that fit real customer needs, target the mass market, and have manageable costs."

This statement addresses a practical issue: The current problem for Europe’s auto industry is not lacking technology, but lacking the ability to make technology cheap. Traditional European carmakers are used to redesigning all components in every new project, with typical development cycles of three to four years, costs stacking layer after layer and reflected in the final price. A European-developed compact EV is hard to price below 25,000 euros.

Renault’s solution is to tap into China’s supply chain ecosystem. Brunet compares China’s industry chain to a "large supermarket": "In Europe, we’re used to redesigning every component in each new project, but under a two-year development cycle, this ‘start from scratch’ model just isn’t viable. China has an extremely complete ecosystem — it’s like being in a ‘large supermarket;’ we can conveniently pick mature components off the shelves."

This should be understood in the context of Renault's supply chain strategy. Brunet revealed Renault still mainly uses European suppliers, but aims to bring at least one Chinese supplier into every module to foster competition for greater efficiency.

"We found that if there's a Chinese supplier in every module, it effectively drives European suppliers to improve their performance," he said. For the Twingo, the electric drive system comes from Shanghai Electric Drive, glass is sourced from Fuyao. Compared to the situation two or three years ago, when Chinese suppliers were scarce, things have clearly changed.

This model has a deeper logic. Twingo is made at Renault’s plant in Slovenia, an EU member state, fully exempt from the EU’s anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese-made EVs. These tariffs can reach as high as 45.3%, already slowing the overseas expansion of many Chinese brands. Renault’s approach essentially puts China’s R&D efficiency and supply chain cost advantages into Europe’s manufacturing framework, finding a compliant pathway through tariff barriers.

This is another meaning of "not technology for technology’s sake": Technology choices bow to business logic, cost structures respond to market access rules.

Know-how Stays in China

Twingo's success is changing ACDC’s role.

ACDC (Advanced China Development Center) is Renault’s R&D center established in Shanghai in 2024, initially positioned to connect Chinese partners, integrate technology resources, and complete vehicle development. After the Twingo project, it is upgrading to a global "capability center".

Brunet explained the upgrade: "The core team of ACDC started in Shanghai. The initial task was to link diverse partners for deep collaboration and whole-vehicle development. The second step is to platformize these success stories and focus on platform architecture, chassis, and E/E (electronics & electrical) architecture as core technology areas, to meet the needs of global model development — including Brazil and South Korea." In short, "base locally, serve globally."

In other words, ACDC won’t just make a car for Europe, but will export platform capabilities. Renault’s collaboration with Geely already follows this path — CMA architecture for Korea, shared RGEA platform for new models in Brazil.

Brunet specifically corrected one statement: "We prefer to define this process as ‘linking and learning from China's ecosystem,’ not so-called ‘technology export.’"

This is not just being polite — but describing an organizational relationship: Chinese teams are not a capacity outsourcing party, but the source continuously accumulating and outputting know-how.

"No matter whether applied in Europe, South America, or other markets, the most core technical expertise will remain in China," Brunet said.

This model isn’t unique in the industry. Volkswagen set up its smart connected EV center in Hefei, BMW’s R&D in Shenyang exports cockpit and digital solutions globally. Stellantis, through its joint venture with Leapmotor, directly puts China-developed EVs into the European market. XPeng’s cooperation with Volkswagen, Audi’s with SAIC — they all essentially do the same thing: graft China’s tech ecosystem to global platforms.

The difference is in the degree. Renault goes further — not only buying technology or jointly developing a model, but anchoring platform-level R&D capabilities in China, making the Chinese team one of the global architecture definers.

The Hardest Part Isn’t Technology

Asked "What is the biggest challenge in applying China’s R&D to the global market," Brunet’s answer didn’t focus on technology.

"Our biggest challenge right now is not the process itself, but a shift in mindset," he said. "Many Renault employees have to admit: Even if we’ve done something for many years and done it well, there’s still plenty of room to improve. When you see someone do it better than you, it means you have to change. That mindset shift is extremely hard."

This level of candor is rare in the public statements of multinational car executives. The issue is not unique to Renault.

The European auto industry is going through a deep capacity crisis. Volkswagen closed a German factory for the first time in its 88-year history, plans to slash 734,000 German units of production and cut 35,000 jobs by 2030. Stellantis’s European factory utilization is around 60%. Turin’s Mirafiori factory output plunged 70% in 2024, Italy’s overall production fell to the lowest in 68 years. Renault itself is cutting engineering positions globally: According to Automotive World, between 1,650 and 2,400 posts.

The meaning is clear: Amid global contraction, China is the direction Renault chooses to increase investment.

Brunet shared five lessons from his ACDC experience, each pointing to fundamental differences in work style between China and Europe. Working in the same location versus dispersal, parallel processes versus linear handover, decisions made daily versus weekly, prioritizing mature parts versus designing from scratch.

"In Europe, the habitual rhythm is ‘reply by the end of the week,’" Brunet said. "In China, partners often hope I’ll reply the same day."

The speed gap shows directly in R&D cycles. Twingo took 22 months; the next family models aim for 16–18 months. Brunet said: "When we first proposed 22 months, Chinese suppliers were quite confident. When we pushed to 16, they started getting nervous."

16 months makes even Chinese suppliers nervous — this is near the industry's frontier. But the real bottleneck is not how fast a project can go, but whether a century-old European automaker can organizationally turn this speed into the norm.

Renault’s futuREady strategy released in March includes "Excellence Ready" as a pillar, aiming for R&D completion within two years for all models. Brunet likened it to running a marathon: "We need preparation and training; we can’t just charge into a marathon without thinking."

One Twingo proved 22 months is doable. But to make 22 months the rule instead of the exception, it’s not about changing a single process, but breaking the organization’s entire habitual thinking. That’s true not just for Renault, but for every multinational carmaker exploring this path.

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