Renault to invest over €10 billion in France in EVs, affordable cars, CEO says

PARIS, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Renault Group will invest more than €10 billion ($11 billion) in France over the next five years in electric vehicles and more affordable cars, Chief Executive François Provost said on Saturday.

"Over the last five years, we invested €13 billion in France to transform entirely our industrial footprint to bet on electric, and over the five coming years, if the social and political context allows it, we will re-invest more than €10 billion to continue pushing on electric and on making cars more affordable", Provost said in an interview on France Inter radio.

Electric cars reached a record of 42% of new car registrations in France in September, with demand boosted by the spike in fuel prices since the start of the Iran war.

"The reality is that today, we produce in France, in the French plants, more vehicles than before. In 2025, we produced 500,000 cars in France. In 2026, we will produce at least 25% more thanks to the rise of electric vehicles," he said.

($1 = 0.8887 euros)

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; writing by John Irish; Editing by Toby Chopra and Susan Fenton)