How incumbents navigate a green transition: Organizational ambidexterity, false starts, and strategic reversals in Renault’s electrification efforts (1972–2020)

Stanislas Kihm () and Adrien Jean-Guy Passant ()
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Stanislas Kihm: ISTEC - Institut supérieur des Sciences, Techniques et Economie Commerciales - ISTEC, IDHES - Institutions et Dynamiques Historiques de l'Économie et de la Société - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - UEVE - Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENS Paris Saclay - Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay
Adrien Jean-Guy Passant: Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, ISTEC - Institut supérieur des Sciences, Techniques et Economie Commerciales - ISTEC

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Abstract: Electric vehicles (EVs) are central to automotive strategy, yet their adoption has been gradual. For decades, electrification competed with hybrids, hydrogen/fuel cells, and improved combustion engines, without any dominant path. Situated within business history and the 'companies in transition' framework, this article examines Renault, a European carmaker that was not 'born green' , through a historical case study. The firm began experimenting with electromobility in the 1970s, but not until the mid-2000s did it launch a program for mainstream consumers. Using various sources, we trace Renault's discontinuous engagement with EVs over five decades. We use a 'roads not taken' approach, grounded in contemporaneous options documented in our sources, to discuss alternative trajectories that might have accele rated learning and coordination. By demonstrating how firms influence energy transitions, this study contributes to understanding electromobility trajectories and clarifies the role of organizational ambidexterity and 'perpetually emerging technologies' in contexts of technological and institutional uncertainty.

Keywords: automotive industry; sustainability transitions; electric vehicles; strategy; Organizational ambidexterity; Organizational ambidexterity strategy electric vehicles automotive industry sustainability transitions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07-02
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05678896v1
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Published in Business History, 2026, pp.1 - 30. ⟨10.1080/00076791.2026.2688965⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05678896

DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2026.2688965

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