The Flins Renault Factory (also known internally as the Pierre Lefaucheux Factory in memory of

Pierre Lefaucheux Pierre-André Lefaucheux (; 30 June 1898 – 11 February 1955) was a leading French industrialist and recipient of the Order of Liberation, awarded to heroes of France's Liberation during World War II. As the first chairman of Renault during the ...

, Renault's first CEO following nationalisation) is a car factory in France, straddling the towns of Flins and Aubergenville in

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. It is the largest (and, since the closure of the

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris ...

factory, the oldest) Renault Group factory in mainland France. It was designed by the architect Bernard Zehrfuss and opened in 1952. It is 237 hectares in extent, of which 67 are occupied by covered buildings. Between 1952 and the summer break of July 2009 the plant had assembled 16,850,000 vehicles.

History

Creating Flins plant was part of a decentralisation plan for Renault with the aim of removing from the Billancourt plant the most repetitive and stressful tasks, which had caused several protests. The number of employees increased over the years, passing from 2,100 in 1953 to 10,600 in 1962. During the 1968 protests in France incidents were recorded around the factory. Having in the past produced historic models such as the Dauphine, in 2009 125,400 Clios emerged from the Flins production line, although this was a lesser quantity than the 179,495 produced at Renault's Bursa plant that year. The Flins plant produces numerous metal and plastic moulded components for use in Renault and Nissan factories worldwide which appears to give it a more secure future than some of the manufacturer's more recently constructed plants in France. In November 2009 it was confirmed that Flins would build the company's first electric powered volume model, based on the "Zoé" concept car. Considerable capacity is also being created for the manufacture and assembly of batteries in connection with this project. the plant produces the fourth and third generation

Renault Clio The Renault Clio () is a supermini (B-segment) car, produced by French automobile manufacturer Renault. It was launched in 1990, and entered its fifth generation in 2019. The Clio has had substantial critical and commercial success, being consi ...

and the

Renault Zoe The Renault Zoe (stylized ZOE), known as Renault Zoe E-Tech Electric since 2021, is a five-door supermini electric car produced by the French manufacturer Renault. Renault originally unveiled, under the Zoe name, a number of different concept ...

. In 2013, it assembled 129,884 units. In 2017 the plant started producing the Nissan Micra, alongside the Zoe.

Production history

Renault Dauphine The Renault Dauphine () is a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive four-door economy car, economy sedan (car), sedan with three-box styling, manufactured and marketed by Renault from 1956 to 1967 across a single generation. Along with such cars as the C ...

(1956-1967) *

Renault 5 The Renault 5 is a five-passenger, three or five-door, front-engine, front-wheel drive hatchback supermini manufactured and marketed by the French automaker Renault over two generations: 1972–1985 (also called R5) and 1984–1996 (also call ...

(1972-1985) *

(1990-2020) *

Renault Twingo The Renault Twingo is a city car made by the French company Renault from 1992 to 2024 across three generations. The name is a portmanteau of ''twist'', ''swing'', and ''tango''. The first-generation Twingo (two door, front engine) debuted at t ...

(1992-2021) *

(2012-2024) * Nissan Micra (2017-2022)

References

{{Renault France assembly Industrial buildings completed in 1952 Buildings and structures in Yvelines Renault Motor vehicle assembly plants in France French companies established in 1952