The world’s most profitable company, Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, has signed a letter of intent to become a potential minority shareholder in a new powertrain technology company to be established by Geely and Renault.
The joint powertrain company will develop internal combustion and hybrid powertrain technologies and Aramco’s investment will support its growth “and contribute to key research and development across synthetic fuels solutions and next-gen hydrogen technologies.”
The company has yet to be named but will have access to Geely and Renault’s global network of 17 powertrain plants and five research and development centers across three continents. It will act as a standalone global supplier and have a combined capacity of up to 5 million internal combustion, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid engines and transmissions per year.
Read: Saudi Aramco Could Invest In Renault And Geely’s Powertrain Joint Venture
“This letter of intent represents a new milestone in our ongoing commitment to transportation technologies and presents a platform to support Aramco’s research and development in engine innovation,” Aramco executive vice president of downstream, Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, said according to zgh.com. “Our planned collaboration with Geely and Renault would support the development of powertrains across the automotive industry, and aligns with our broader efforts across our global operations.”
It is unclear how large Aramco’s stake in the company will be. Reports from January indicated that Aramco would take a 20 per cent stake in the venture while both Geely and Renault would each own a 40 per cent stake.
“This partnership with Aramco will raise our joint powertrain company together with Geely Group to the next level and give it a head start in the race towards ultra-low-emissions ICE powertrain technology,” Renault Group chief executive Luca de Meo added. “Aramco’s entry brings to the table unique know-how that will help develop breakthrough innovations in the fields of synthetic fuels and hydrogen.”
