Louis Renault was a pioneer in the automobile industry and a French industrialist. He grew up in a bourgeois family in Paris, where he loved to tinker with machines and built his first car at the age of 21. He teamed up with his brothers to open a car manufacturing unit after realizing the business potential of his invention. The company grew rapidly from the start, and by the outbreak of World War II, it had grown into a large conglomerate with a wide range of products. Even then, he maintained complete control over the company, and whenever a problem arose, he did not rest until a solution had been found. His bad luck began in 1939, when he was forced to fire 2000 union members from their jobs. It tarnished his reputation and cost him political support. The Nazis then attempted to relocate his factories, along with his workers, in 1940, and to avoid this, he had to continue producing vehicles for the Germans. He had said, “Let them take the butter; otherwise, they’ll take the cows.” He was arrested on charges of collaborating with Nazis after France was liberated. He died in custody, and the circumstances surrounding his death are unknown.
Childhood and Adolescence
Louis Renault was born into a wealthy family on February 12, 1877, in Billancount, Paris. Alfred Renault, his father, made and sold buttons and lines. Berthe was his mother’s name. Louis was the fourth of six children born to the couple.
Louis attended Lycée Condorcet for his education. He, on the other hand, was more interested in technical devices and frequently skipped school. He invented a system for generating electricity using cables, pewter battery plates, and an acid bath in 1888, when he was only eleven years old.
He once hid himself in the coal tender of a steam train traveling from Paris to Rouen in order to learn how steam locomotives worked. He was said to be most at ease when he had his hands full of grease. Nothing else piqued his interest.
Louis had the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of a steam car when he was thirteen years old. Leon Serpollet, the owner of Gardener-Serpollet automobiles, owned it. The mechanism piqued his interest, and he began pestering his father for a car of his own.
His father eventually procured an old Panhard engine for him. He began to spend a lot of time in the tool shed of their family home in Billancount, tinkering with the machine. He was also spotted in Serpollet’s car.
Meanwhile, he served in the military for a short time. The military training was supposed to straighten him out for good and keep him from inventing. The hope, however, did not come true. He set aside a portion of his pay for future inventions.
In 1898, he discovered a small “De Dion-Bouton” engine block at home. He then hired two workers and began working on it nonstop. He added a third gear to the engine’s direct drive and made other necessary changes to create his own automobile.
Renault Voiturette, or Renault’s Little Car, was the car’s name. Louis drove down the streets of Paris at an incredible speed of 50 kilometers per hour on the night of December 24, 1898, when everyone in Paris was celebrating Christmas Eve.
He won a bet with a friend that night that his invention could beat any other car up the slope of Rue Lepic. After taking a ride with Louis, his first buyer was a friend of his father’s who was very impressed with the car. He also received orders for twelve more cars.
Career of Louis
He teamed up with his elder brothers Marcel and Fernand to set up a manufacturing unit after seeing the invention’s commercial potential. They formally opened Renault Frères on February 25, 1899.
The elder Renaults took over the business and administration work because they had already gained business experience working at their father’s firm. As a result, Louis was able to focus on innovation and production. He had already built 80 cars by the first half of 1899.
The Renault brothers devised a novel method of promoting their automobiles. Marcel and Louis competed in a number of car races from 1899 to 1903, which greatly boosted their business. Unfortunately, Marcel died in a car race between Paris and Madrid in 1903, and after his death, Louis stopped participating in such races as well.
When Fernand retired due to ill health in 1908, Louis assumed full control of the company. In 1912 and 1913, he dealt with labor unrest patiently. The company continued to produce automobiles under his direction until the outbreak of World War I.
When World War I broke out, artillery ammunition was in short supply. Renault began producing 75 mm shells using hydraulic presses in response to the crisis; other car companies soon followed suit, and the shortage was largely alleviated.
Colonel J.B.E. Estienne approached Louis Renault in late 1915 about building armored vehicles. Renault refused because his factory was producing war materials at full capacity. The idea, however, stayed with him, and when he was approached again on July 16, 1916, he agreed.
The overall design of the tank was created by Louis himself, and the basic specifications were established by him. In 1917, 84 tanks were manufactured and delivered after extensive research. The company delivered 2697 tanks before the Armistice in November 1918. For his war efforts, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d’honneur after the war.
Louis Renault became associated with right-wing ideas after World War I and could not appreciate the growing power of labor unions. During this time, he maintained complete control of the company and invented hydraulic shock absorbers, the modern drum brake, and compressed gas ignition.
In 1939, the Second World War began. His company had grown into a highly diversified conglomerate and France’s largest industrial conglomerate. It had a workforce of 40,000 people. His firm remained one of the French Army’s most important suppliers, as before.
The French government sent Renault to the United States in 1940 to request tanks. Germany had complete control of France by the time he returned. To avoid having to relocate his factory, along with its equipment and workers, to Germany, he decided to work with the Nazis.
The Renault factory had produced 34,232 vehicles for the Nazis by the time France was liberated. It’s worth noting that Renault wasn’t the only one who did this. Many other industries had followed suit. Despite this, Renault fell out of favor with the French Resistance and became known as a Nazi collaborator.
His factories were bombed by the British as well. On March 3, 1942, one of them was severely damaged. His health began to deteriorate as well. By late 1942, he was suffering from chronic renal problems as well as aphasia, a language and speech disorder. As a result, he was unable to speak or write.
After France was liberated in 1944, Renault was arrested on suspicion of collaborating with the Nazis on September 22, 1944. The provisional French government seized his company in October 1944. On January 16, 1945, it was nationalized and renamed Régie Nationale des Usines Renault (RNUR).
Renault was imprisoned in Fresnes Prison and died within a month, despite his claims that he kept his plants running to save France’s industrial base and to prevent deportation of French workers to Germany. He was found guilty of ‘enrichment obtained by those who worked for the enemy’ after his death.
Personal History and Legacy
On September 26, 1918, Louis Renault married Christiane Boullaire, the sister of French painter Jacques Boullaire. He was forty-one years old at the time of the wedding, while the bride was twenty-one. Jean-Louis Renault was the couple’s only child.
At the time of his arrest, Louis Renault was not feeling well. When he was taken into custody, his health quickly deteriorated. On October 5, 1944, he was transferred to a psychiatric facility, but he quickly fell into a coma.
Renault was admitted to a private nursing home on October 9, 1944, at the request of his family and friends. On October 24, 1944, he passed away. Officially, he died of uremia, but there was no autopsy performed.
Controversies of Louis
Many experts believe Louis Renault was framed because of his right-wing ideology. He was not a co-conspirator in the least. To begin with, he was not the only businessman who had worked for the Nazis. During that time, many others had kept their plants running. They hadn’t been mentioned before.
According to research, while building vehicles for the Nazis, he was able to conceal strategic materials and slowed production. He also sabotaged the engines by causing them to dry out and stall too frequently. His detractors, on the other hand, credit his employees rather than him.
Renault’s wife and son were not compensated when the company was nationalized, but other shareholders were. Moreover, the Renault family believes Louis Renault was murdered rather than dying of natural causes.
His grandchildren are currently attempting to clear his name and obtain compensation for the illegal seizure of their inheritance. They had attempted to take a legal course twice before with no success.
They have reopened the case now that a new law has been passed that allows citizens to challenge the constitutionality of government actions in court. They will not only receive over 100 million Euros from the state if they win, but they will also be able to clear their grandfather’s name, which is their top priority.
Estimated Net Worth
The estimated net worth of Louis is unknown.