At the age of 20 Louis Renault made a brilliant entrance into the emerging world of the motor car. He converted his tricycle into a small four wheeled vehicle and added another of his inventions that soon would propel the motor car into a new era: the ‘direct drive’ gearbox, the FIRST gearbox. In 1898 what was a bet between friends ended up landing Louis Renault with his first 12 orders along with cash deposits for his vehicle.
Louis Renault’s two brothers who ran the family business, set up the Renault brothers company in 1899- without Louis. By 1902 the Renault workshops covered 7,500 square meters. The Renault catalogue included the FIRST saloon car, with four cylinder and horse power of 24.
In 1903 the Renault brothers gave up racing after a race that claimed the lives of 7 drives including Marcel Renault. In the same year Renault brother’s sales network was set up abroad in Italy, England, Germany, Spain and the United States.
1905 marked a turning point after Renault received an order for 205 taxis. This meant the company had to be reorganized and the company switched from the workshop to mass production.
The Renault brothers company was renamed in 1909 to Louis Renault Automobile Company, this was due the fact that his last remaining brother had died in the same year (1909) and had already sold his stake in the company to his brother.
The post war period led to major competition between the two leading automobile manufacturers in France, Renault and Citroen. Citroen scored a media victory with its “Croisiere Noire”. However it was Renault that won the day by setting up the Compaignie Generale Transsaharienne.
Fast forward to the 1990s and Renault has come a long way. Loius Schweitzer took the helm of Renault at a critical period in 1992. Renault’s fortunes were sagging while Volvo was on the road to recovery. The two company’s were meant to merge on 6th September 1993, however lack of support stopped this from happening. Record profits were reached in 2005.
Our Renault Parts
Renault parts can be hard to come by if you looking in the wrong places. To find Renault parts we suggest that you contact us and we will do the shopping for you. You can enter your Renault part online or over the phone with one of our customer service people. Our service takes all the hassle out of finding you part. All you do is enter a request and we do the searching for you. Just sit back and relax.