Renault Group has signed an agreement to acquire full ownership of the Flexis electric van joint venture established with Volvo Group and CMA CGM Group. Under the agreement,
Renault Group has signed an agreement to acquire full ownership of the Flexis electric van joint venture established with Volvo Group and CMA CGM Group.
Under the agreement, Renault will acquire Volvo Group’s and CMA CGM Group’s respective stakes in Flexis (45% and 10%).
The takeover could become effective by the end of the first half of 2026, subject to approval by the competition authorities, and will see Renault Group oversee the development of the entirely new fully electric, range of light commercial vehicles, incorporating “state‑of‑the‑art” technologies.
The plans had been widely trailed following a report in French daily paper Le Monde and will see Renault push ahead with plans to create a “groundbreaking” new generation of electric vans.
Production is expected to begin by the end of 2026, as initially planned, and the first vehicle will be the Renault Trafic Van E-Tech electric, which will be built at the group’s Sandouville plant in France. This will also be marketed by Volvo Group, through Renault Trucks, from 2027 onwards, continuing with the long‑standing relationship between Renault Group and Renault Trucks for light commercial vehicles.
The Flexis joint venture was created in 2023 by former Renault CEO Luca de Meo in partnership with Volvo Group. Headquartered in France, it officially launched in 2024 with plans to introduce a new family of fully electric vans from 2026, based on a software-defined vehicle (SDV) platform and providing dedicated services.
The Flexis trio of vehicles – the Step-in van, Cargo van and Panel van – were showcased at the Solutrans show in autumn 2025. Designed for urban logistics, the vans are built on a ‘skateboard’ platform and feature fast charging, high modularity, low floors and 280+ miles of range.
Renault said the value of the project, the foundations laid since 2024, and the technologies developed were “more than ever aligned with the challenges of urban logistics and its growing decarbonisation needs”.
The group said its teams will continue to fully pursue this ambitious project, convinced of the potential of this new generation of range of electric vans.
