8:16 am, July 13, 2026
Renault is experiencing a ‘structural shift’ towards electric cars, its UK boss has said.
UK managing director Adam Wood spoke to Car Dealer at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, where the French firm was displaying a number of its latest models, including the new Twingo and high-performance Turbo 3E.
The conversation soon turned to EVs – an area where Renault has enjoyed huge success in recent years – and Wood was clear that attitudes are starting to change for good.
A lot of people ask me, is it a blip?’, he said.
‘We’ve definitely seen an acceleration after the fuel crisis and outbreak of war in the Middle East. You know, we saw a 42% increase in enquiries in the eight weeks after, compared to the eight weeks prior.
‘I think you’re generally seeing a structural shift in the market now as BEVs become not a niche but a mainstream purchase and I think the reason for that is that there are vehicles that are more compelling than ever.’
He added that electric vehicles were providing ways to ‘protect themselves’ from ‘volatility’.
‘Renault 5 has captured the imagination,’ he said. ‘It’s captured the heart and the head appeal that I think was the secret to [unlocking] EVs for the mainstream.’
Wood added that Renault recently conducted a study of 1,600 drivers of the brand’s 5 and said that ‘96% of them would recommend an EV so they’ll never go back [to combustion engines].
‘Just over 60% of them also said that they’re actually more affordable than they expected to run and live with.’
He added that the ‘government really to accelerate an energy review, to accelerate collaboration with the charging sector to make sure we can continue to bring down the cost of public charging.
‘That’s going to be key if we want to transition that market in 2 years to 52%,’ he said.
‘And obviously by 2030 to 80%, we need everyone on the journey.’
