Renault

French motor-vehicle manufacturer, founded in 1898. Having been under state control from the 1940s, the company was privatized in 1996. Three years later it entered into a cross-shareholding alliance with Japanese motor manufacturer Nissan. By 2005 Renault–Nissan sales accounted for almost 10% of the worldwide market. In 2005 and 2006 Renault's Formula 1 motor racing team won both the world driver and world constructor championships.

Louis Renault (1877–1944) formed the company with his brothers Fernand and Marcel. In 1899 they began motor racing, which boosted the sales of their cars, and by 1908 they were producing 5,000 cars a year. The company produced tanks for the French army in both world wars.