Renault Group is to acquire full ownership of Flexis SAS, the joint venture established by the three companies – Renault Group, Volvo Group and CMA CGM Group – in 2024 to create a new generation of electric vans.
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Renault also said it has secured long-term financing and industrial backing to accelerate the development and delivery of ‘next-generation’ fully electric light commercial vehicles (LCVs). Alongside this, Krishnan Sundararajan has been appointed CEO, effective 23 February 2026, to lead the next phase of the project.
The agreement provides for Renault Group to acquire Volvo Group’s and CMA CGM Group’s respective stakes in Flexis (45% and 10%). It could become effective by the end of the first half of 2026, subject to approval by the competition authorities.
The commercial vehicle venture was set up to develop battery-electric vans using a centralised computing platform.
French newspaper Le Monde reported that tensions emerged following the appointment of François Provost as Renault’s CEO.
Renault said the change in governance ‘does not alter either the product ambition or the original industrial plan aiming to provide breakthrough products and services in the electric medium van range’.
It said the value of the project, the foundations laid since 2024, and the technologies developed — unique skateboard platform, 800V motor, and SDV (Software Defined Vehicle) architecture — are ‘more than ever aligned with the challenges of urban logistics and its growing decarbonisation needs’.
Renault Group’s teams will continue to fully pursue ‘this ambitious project’, convinced of the potential of this new generation of range of electric vans, beginning with Renault Trafic Van E Tech electric from late 2026 onward.
In France, nearly 1,300 people are working on its development across various Renault Group sites in the Île de France region (including the Guyancourt Technocentre and the Villiers Saint Frédéric Light Commercial Vehicle Center of Excellence), through to industrialization at the Group’s Sandouville plant in Normandy.
Volvo Group, through Renault Trucks, will distribute the van products from 2027, in continuity with the long-standing relationship between Renault Group and Renault Trucks for light commercial vehicles.
Under the original arrangement for the JV, Renault and Volvo each planned to invest €300m ($357.50m) over three years, while CMA CGM (a French shipping and logistics group) committed €120m via its transport decarbonisation investment fund.
