Renault and Tesla speaking a different language

Thierry Pieton, CFO of France’s Renault, may not have delivered the firm’s Q1 revenue update in his native tongue. But, when it comes to his view of potential price cuts for its flagship Megane E-tech EV, he might well have been speaking a different language to that of Elon Musk, CEO of its US rival Tesla, when his firm also addressed Q1 performance the previous day.

“The reality is that, at the overall group level, the plants are full—we are at 100pc capacity, generally speaking. So, there is no big incentive to cut the prices, kill residuals and go into the spiral that some of the competition is following,” says Pieton.