Louis Renault (car designer)
Louis Renault (born February 15, 1877 in Billancourt , † October 24, 1944 in Paris ) was a French engineer and co-founder of the automobile manufacturer Renault .
Live and act
According to his own statements, the impetus for founding the company was a visit to the newly built Eiffel Tower in 1889. However, he was fascinated by technology and mechanics from an early age. At the age of eleven, he devised his own electric battery system in which zinc rods were dipped into an acid bath, controlled by pulling a cord. When he was twelve, he hid in a locomotive tender just to find out how such a machine works. A year later he drove a steam car for the first time; Léon Serpollet let him "behind the wheel". Mechanical constructions appealed to him. Already in his early youth he neglected school and hung around the workshops and train stations in Paris.
Christmas Eve 1898 is considered the start of the Renault company. That evening, Louis Renault received orders for twelve voiturettes . On February 28, 1899, his brothers Marcel and Fernand founded Société Renault Frères (company of the Renault brothers). Louis was formally her employee and responsible for the design and construction of the cars. After Marcel had a fatal accident in 1903 and Fernand fell seriously ill in 1908 (he died in 1909), Louis took over the company and managed it until 1944. In 1901, 347 orders were received and the Billancourt plant employed 110 people.
Louis Renault was also active as a racing driver, in the aborted Paris-Madrid 1903 race , in which Marcel Renault was killed, he achieved second place. Then Louis ended his racing career. Nevertheless, the company remained successful.
Renault not only ran the company, but continued to work as a technician. Some of his patented inventions have been called revolutionary. Examples include the drive of the rear wheels via a cardan shaft (his first patent in automotive engineering), the screw-in spark plug or a turbo compressor (supercharger), as well as the seat belt , the first V8 engine for an aircraft and the drum brake . These patents also ensured the company's financial independence.
In 1929, based on Henry Ford's example, he built a new plant with an assembly line (at 1,500 meters, the assembly line was the longest outside the USA) and modern assembly technology. The consequences of the Great Depression (which began in 1929) also hit his company hard. Sufficient capital, a wide range of types, extensive independence from suppliers (high level of vertical integration ; Renault manufactured many things in its own plants, even manhole covers , canteen cutlery, spark plugs), efficient production and the dismissal of some employees ensured the continued existence of the company.
In June 1940 German troops occupied Paris. Louis Renault was given the choice of either repairing Wehrmacht trucks and tanks or liquidating the company. Renault decided, with the approval of the Vichy government , which campaigned for state collaboration, to work with the Germans - this "tank affair" and a handshake with Adolf Hitler in Berlin in 1939 made the accusation of collaboration loud. In March 1943 and April and September 1944, the production facilities were badly damaged by Allied bomber units. Renault managed to get production going again quickly.
After the liberation of Paris (Commander Dietrich von Choltitz ignored some orders and surrendered practically without a fight on August 25, 1944) Renault surrendered to the authorities on September 23, 1944 (on the advice of his friend Ribet, president of the bar). He was imprisoned in prison in the Paris suburb of Fresnes .
On October 9, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and shortly thereafter transferred to the Saint-Jean-de-Dieu clinic. He died there on October 24, 1944. The cause of death remains unclear: while official statements speak of uremia (urine poisoning), some circumstances point to fatal abuse in the prison cell. Louis Renault was buried in the Cimetiére de Ville in the parish of Herqueville , Department Manche .
Through his work for France during World War I (Renault built the Renault FT as the first tank ), he had become a national hero, and in 1918 he was appointed an officer of the Legion of Honor .
literature
- Edouard Seidler: The great RENAULT challenge. Edita: Lausanne, 1981. ISBN 2-88001-118-3
- Ulrich Bethscheider-Kieser: Renault: under the sign of the rhombus. Motorbuch-Verlag: Stuttgart 1995. ISBN 3-613-01658-3
Web links
- detailed biography (French)
- German RENAULT AG
- Newspaper article about Louis Renault in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Answers.com - Internet site: Louis Renault. From: www.answers.com , accessed January 6, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c d Renaultoloog - Internet site: Renault's history. From: www.renaultoloog.nl , accessed January 6, 2013 .
- ↑ https://www.sites.google.com/site/histoiregrouperenault/un-peu-d-histoire/renault-chronicles-version-anglaise/01---the-louis-renault-era-1898-1944/01a --- a-dynamic-start-1898-1914
- ↑ The grave of Louis Renault. In: knerger.de. Klaus Nerger, accessed October 30, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Renault, Louis |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French engineer and co-founder of the Renault car brand |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 15, 1877 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Billancourt , Boulogne-sur-Seine , Seine department , France |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 24, 1944 |
| Place of death | Paris , France |