HISTORY OF THE RENAULT TRUCK

Our history

Renault Trucks is heir to more than one century of French excellence in truck industry

Marius Berliet

Born in 1866, employed in the modest family hat band factory, Marius Berliet designed and made a one-cylinder engine in 1894 and, a year later, built his first petroleum-powered automobile in a shed. Its width was dictated by the width of the garden gate!

Louis Renault

Born in 1877, the son of a cloth manufacturer started doing mechanical work in a modest shed in Billancourt near Paris. At 21, he designed a four-speed gearbox including one with direct drive that was patented, then came out with his first small automobile powered by a 1/4-hp engine.

1894-1909 –The pioneering epoch

Marius was almost a man from the South – from Lyons’ Croix-Rousse district to be exact. Louis was born in Paris. But both liked the shady banks by their native rivers – the Rhône for Marius, the Seine for Louis. The paths of Marius and Louis seem parallels but Marius’ beginning was more difficult. His first order was placed in 1897 by a certain Mr. Porte – a silk manufacturer from Lyon – who paid him a 10,000-franc deposit. But Marius had to face up to his father’s disagreement  and a lack of resources before being able to buy the Audibert and Lavirotte workshops, the embryo of his future Lyon-Monplaisir plant.

Louis had more luck. On Christmas Eve 1898, he drove Maître Viot, a lawyer friend of his father and guest at the party, up the Butte Montmartre in his small automobile. When they got back, his passenger bought it from him for 40 louis. All the guests wanted to try it out in turn, and Louis got twelve orders that night. A real Christmas story! So in 1899, in order to build these automobiles, he set up the Renault Frères company with his brothers Marcel and Fernand.

The First World War filled their two order books. 

1914-1918 – Mass production begins

At Berliet, 40 CBA trucks were manufactured every day to join the vehicles heading to the front at Verdun. At Renault, in addition to cars, aircraft engine and gun carriages were leaving the Boulogne Billancourt factory. In 1917, “the diamond brand” designed the first modern tank. 30 of these were produced a day by Renault and 16 by Berliet at their plant in Vénissieux. The first 4x4 truck was built in 1915 by Latil – an obvious development following the invention of the front-wheel drive in 1898.

1919-1939 – Diversifying for the future

Louis Renault and Marius Berliet, geniuses in their field, continued to build their respective automotive group, but the post-war years were hard ones. Sales dropped because of a glut on the market. In 1925, Renault was the first brand to offer a road tractor fitted with a servo brake. The two manufacturers also offered vehicles powered by gas generators as part of the state strategy to promote other forms of energy then petroleum. But the great revolution during this period was the introduction in 1930 of the diesel engine, which transformed road transport. Thanks to its low running cost and power at low speed, it was to prove ideal for transporting goods.

1952-1978 – Mergers in the French truck industry

Between 1952 and 1974, Laffly, Rochet-Schneider, Camiva and Citroën Poids lourds were taken over by Berliet which, in 1957 built the T100, the world’s biggest truck! In 1955 SAVIEM was born from the merger of Latil, the Renault Truck department and Somua. SAVIEM subsequently welcomes two new partners – Richard Continental, in 1965, and Sinpar in 1975. In 1978, Berliet and SAVIEM merged to create the sole French truck manufacturer which, in 1978, became Renault Véhicules Industriels, the commercial vehicle branch of the Renault group.

An international player

Renault Véhicules Industriels continued to build a powerful international group by acquiring Dodge Europe in 1983 and then the legendary American brand Mack in 1990. 1992 saw an important new development when Renault Véhicules Industriels became “Renault V.I.”.

In 2001, Renault V.I. became a part of the Volvo Group, and the following year adopted the new trade name of “Renault Trucks”.

In 2013, Renault Trucks is completely renewing its truck range, a first in the world of industrial vehicles. The Renault Trucks T High and T models for long-haulage, C and K for construction, D and D Wide for distribution all feature innovative design and improved fuel efficiency. In 2015, the Renault T High was named International Truck of the Year

Always a pioneer

Committed to energy transition and sustainable mobility, Renault Trucks is a pioneer in electromobility, with the launch of a 100% electric 4.5 t truck in 2011. By 2023, Renault Trucks will offer a complete range of carbon-free vehicles, from 650 kg to 44 t GVW, mass-produced in France.

In 1956, the company Saviem was formed as a subsidiary of Renault from the combination of Renault's own truck and bus production with the manufacturers Somua and Latil. From 1957 on, Saviem was also used as the brand name for the trucks and buses produced by the company.

As a result of French industrial policy, in 1975 state-owned Renault also acquired the truck and bus manufacturer Berliet from Citroën (at that time a part of the Michelin corporation). In 1978, Berliet and Saviem were merged to form Renault Véhicules Industriels. Again, the old brand names were retained for two more years while the model lineups gradually were incorporated, until in 1980 they were replaced by the name Renault.

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Renault Midliner with Club of Four cab, late 1990s model

In 1971, Saviem became a member of the Euro Truck Development Group or Club of Four, a cooperation between four European truck producers (Saviem, Volvo, DAF and Magirus-Deutz, which soon after became a part of Iveco) for the production of medium-sized trucks. Since 1975 the truck models resulting from this cooperation were built by Saviem and later Renault, even until 2001. They were also sold on the North American market as the Mack Mid-Liner or Manager.

In 1978, PSA Group had bought Chrysler's European operations. Included in the deal were commercial vehicle operations in the UK and Spain, which at that time used the brand name Dodge. PSA however sold them on to RVI in 1983, having itself little interest in the commercial vehicle market. The newly acquired operations in the UK had their origins in the commercial vehicle branch of the Rootes Group which originally carried the brand names Karrier and Commer. Some of the models built there were continued in production for several years by RVI in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, who also kept the Dodge brand name for these models, albeit in combination with the Renault badge. In 1988 the company was subject to a Fire Brigades Union inquirey due to 8 Dodge fire engines involved in crashes. Until 1992 the UK division was known as Renault Truck Industries, after which it then took the international Renault V.I. name.

In Spain, however, where Renault already was recognized as a local automobile producer, the Dodge trucks, which originally had been developed by the manufacturer Barreiros Diesel, were rebadged as Renaults and soon after replaced by French-designed models.

In 1987, Renault Véhicules Industriels took over from its parent company Renault a 42% stake in the American manufacturer Mack Trucks which became a fully owned subsidiary of Renault Véhicules Industriels in 1990. In 1994, RVI purchased a 34% stake in the Czech bus manufacturer Karosa, increasing its ownership to a majority 51% in 1996 and 96% in 2000. In 1997 Renault V. I. entered into a cooperation agreement with the Finnish truck producer Sisu. In 2002 the company signed a deal with the Chinese company Dongfeng Motor to manufacture engines.

Renault Trucks took part in the FIA European Championship, running Renault Premium powered by 13-litre DXi13 engines. The Renault Trucks-MKR Technology team won in 2010.
 

Also, the former Uruguayan plant of cars owned by Nordex in Uruguay, made since 2004 the Renault Trucks models like Midlum series.

The Volvo Group invested about €2 billion to develop a new line of Renault Trucks vehicles (C, D, K, T) which were introduced through 2013 replacing the previous models

 

As part of Renault's restructuring following privatisation in 1996, the heavy vehicles operations of bus and truck were divested. In 1999, the Renault and Karosa bus and coach operations were split off from Renault Véhicules Industriels and merged with Fiat-Iveco's bus and coach operations to form the jointly owned subsidiary

Irisbus. In 2003, Irisbus became a full subsidiary of Iveco and the brand Renault on its products was replaced by the brand Irisbus.

On 2 January 2001, Renault V. I. (including Mack Trucks, but not Renault S. A.'s stake in Irisbus) was sold to Volvo, which renamed it Renault Trucks in 2002. As a result, the mother company Renault S. A. was Volvo's biggest shareholder, with a 20% stake, shares and voting rights, but the majority of this was sold in October 2010, leaving a 5.1% stake. In December 2012, Renault sold its remaining shares in Volvo.

The Renault Trucks Defense division is wholly owned by Renault Trucks and is based in Versailles, France. It trades on its 1975 acquisition of Berliet and claims to have over 30,000 vehicles in use around the world. Its status as the leading supplier to the French Army was put in jeopardy in 2010 when the government placed a $214m order to Italian competitor Iveco. In 2016, Volvo announced its intention of divesting Renault Trucks Defense, as part of the selling of its Government Sales division.

It manufactures a range of special vehicles aimed at the defense and security markets, including the Sherpa, VAB armoured personnel carrier, AMC armoured multirole carrier and Kerax ranges.

In 2006 Renault Trucks took over ACMAT, but the defence and security vehicle manufacturer retained its own name and identity.