Renault and Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor will produce an electric vehicle based on the French automaker’s Fluence sedan at a factory in Wuhan in 2017, Renault said in a statement on Monday. The vehicle will only be sold in China, Renault said to reporters at the event to announce the new deal, Reuters reports. Renault trails other carmakers in China where it sold just 34,000 cars last year. This compares with rival PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, which sold 734,000, according to ANE. Renault expects a big China boost through its joint venture with Dongfeng and has said it could eventually sell up to 800,000 vehicles a year in the market, including imported and locally built cars. The announcement of Renault's expansion of ties with its Chinese partner comes after their local subsidiary, Renault Pars, recently announced it too was ramping up operations in Iran, due to the successful signing of the pact between the P5+1 countries and Iran over the latter's nuclear program.
