The Renault-Nissan Alliance is to open a new research office in the heart of the Silicon Valley later this month.
Just opposite the famous Google campus and firmly in the hub of the Valley famed for its high-tech and pioneering residents (including electric supercar maker Tesla), the new office in Mountain View will allow one of the world’s largest automotive groups to capitalize on the region’s world-class engineering talent and stay ahead of trends that are reshaping the way people interact with their cars.
The office will recruit staff to focus on specific projects and business developments as they emerge. Small, highly efficient teams will initially work on vehicle IT development, advanced engineering research and technology recruitment.
“The Alliance is at the vanguard of the auto industry’s shift to sustainable transportation. Having a greater footprint in one of the world’s headquarters for clean tech research will extend our lead further,” said Carlos Ghosn, CEO and Chairman of the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
Ghosn gave a “Clean Cars” presentation to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) yesterday which focused on how and why zero-emission technologies are now leading to unprecedented opportunities in the auto industry and economy.
Created in 1999, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is a unique partnership between two of the largest automakers in Europe and Japan. Renault and Nissan, which together employ more than 350,000 workers, sold 7.2 million cars in 2010 – about one in 10 cars worldwide. One of the most important parts of the Alliance has been the development of EVs; with the Nissan Leaf, along with Renault’s line-up of four electric models (the Twizy, Kangoo Z.E, ZOE and Fluence) just the first step in the Alliance’s plans to boost alternative fuel use within the car industry.
