Cooperative Innovation Laboratory Renault

Technocentre (France) – 13 April 2012. Carlos Ghosn went to the Cooperative Innovation Laboratory as part of his schedule of field visits. It was an opportunity for him to find out about forthcoming and future vehicle ranges and to inspect cockpits looking ahead to those planned for the end of the decade.




The laboratory brings together employees from three departments: Product Planning, Design and the DREAM (Research, Advanced Studies and Materials Engineering). Its role is to suggest entirely new concepts – in terms of technology or function – and to come up with convincing arguments of their usefulness through demonstrators that highlight their added value. The laboratory monitors and analyses changes in society and anticipates the needs of tomorrow’s customers. It is involved in both long-term and short-term vehicle projects, components and platforms. In addition to making suggestions for new models, the laboratory aims to contribute one project a year to the product planning programme.



Mr Ghosn, who supports the idea of an investigative laboratory to test new ideas, emphasised the need to move away from niche vehicles towards volume production, making new technologies available to as many people as possible. He was interested in another aspect of the laboratory: its ability to propose vehicles that are different but can be developed with controlled investments because they are based on a large amount of carry-over (especially the platform). This combination of innovation and cost realism should ensure the profitability of attractive projects. That was one of the key messages Mr Ghosn gave in his concluding remarks He thanked the laboratory participants for their work as a source of innovation for the company, bringing together creativity and economic performance.