Louis Renault (industrial)

Louis Renault (12 February 1877 – 24 October 1944) was a French industrialist and co‑founder of the automobile manufacturer Renault.

Early beginnings

Louis Renault was the fourth son in a family of artisans. At age 14 he built a workshop in the family garden in Boulogne‑Billancourt. At 21 he created his first automobile by modifying a De Dion‑Bouton tricycle, adding a fourth wheel and inventing a three‑speed cardan shaft transmission with reverse.

In August 1899 he entered the Paris–Trouville race—his first success—and went on to win the Paris–Ostend, Paris–Rambouillet and Toulouse–Paris events. That year he completed his first fully enclosed automobile, designed with the help of his brother‑in‑law Jacques Boullaire.

Renault company

In 1899 he and his brothers Fernand and Marcel founded Renault Frères, employing 60 people. In 1900 he patented the turbocharger. After Marcel’s death in the 1903 Paris–Madrid race, Louis bought out his share; Fernand left in 1908 and Louis renamed the firm Automobiles Renault.

In 1910 he visited the United States to study Henry Ford’s assembly‑line methods, though large‑scale mass production in France faced social challenges. In 1919 he co‑founded the Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes. By 1928, Renault employed some 20,000 workers under Louis’s leadership—a position he held for two decades.

World War II and aftermath

After France’s defeat in 1940, Renault’s factories came under German administration. Renault continued operations under the Vichy regime, aided by his ties to Vichy minister François Lehideux. In 1942 he suffered a severe stroke, causing aphasia and incapacitation.

Following Paris’s liberation, Renault was arrested on charges of collaborating with the Nazis. He was detained in Fresnes Prison; medical examinations revealed cranial trauma and uremic crisis. Transferred briefly to a psychiatric hospital and then to Saint‑Jean‑de‑Dieu clinic, he died on 24 October 1944 at age 67. No official inquiry has fully clarified the circumstances of his detention or alleged mistreatment.

Nationalization

On 1 January 1945, the provisional government dissolved Renault and nationalized its assets as the Régie Nationale des Usines Renault. This decree, issued two months after Louis Renault’s death and without a court verdict, was later partially reversed: in 1967 legislation granted indemnification to Renault’s heirs.

Honors

Renault was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d’Honneur for his contributions in World War I, notably supplying Renault FT‑17 tanks and “Marne taxis” that shuttled troops to the front in 1914.