On the occasion of the Munich Motor Show, Luca de Meo spoke about the future of Ampere. The Renault boss believes that the group’s subsidiary dedicated to electrics could “ worth between 8 and 10 billion euros at the time of its IPO.
A valuation of 10 billion euros for Ampere?
Luca de Meo, CEO of the Renault group, gives an interesting speech on the delusional valuations of young shoots in the electric vehicle sector. According to him, the stock market valuations of VinFast, Rivian, BYD or Tesla are completely off the ground. Especially if we compare them with those of historical manufacturers. The valuation of VinFast, for example, reached 85 billion dollars on the evening of its first day of trading. More than industry giants like Ford, Stellantis or Volkswagen.
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That’s why the Renault boss wants to keep his feet on the ground as he prepares a split of Renault’s thermal and electrical activities. The electrical activities will be united in a new company, Ampere. For her, according to her statements to the Financial Times, he rather expects a reasonable valuation of around 10 billion euros. Luca de Meo nevertheless thinks that the European automotive industry is held back by ” overly cautious investors as incumbent automakers struggle to compete with loss-making start-ups born less than a decade ago ».
Luca de Meo appeals to European investors
Some analysts believe that the valuation of Ampere will not exceed 5 billion euros. While others still wonder about the need to split the activity of the group. To this, Luca de Meo replies that “ if European investors care about the future of Europe, they better invest in our business instead of putting question marks everywhere “. A project that the boss of Renault considers ” solid and sees as a response to challenges from China and the United States ».
The big boss of the Diamond brand launches a solemn appeal to European investors: “ if they want to protect Europe, they have to support projects like this “. He compares valuations between the giant BMW and the small Vietnamese manufacturer VinFast and wonders if “ VinFast may actually be worth more than BMW », before adding a sad « be serious “. The IPO of the subsidiary dedicated to electric is scheduled for spring 2024. By 2030, Ampere plans to sell one million electric vehicles per year.
