Beatrice Foucher has been named as the new head of Renault’s electric vehicles unit only months before the Zoe, Renault's first mass-produced EV, is launched. Foucher is the successor of Thierry Koskas, who will serve as the leader of Renault's operations in Argentina. In the past, Foucher had headed product planning for all Renault models. These management changes will take effect on Sept. 1. Foucher is faced with the task of launching the Zoe, a vital model in the 4-billion-euro investment in EVs by the Renault-Nissan alliance. Renault has an annual production output of 150,000 Zoes. The company is relying on the Zoes to bring EVs more mainstream. The Zoe will debut in Europe in the fourth quarter.
Renault’s lineup already includes the battery-powered Fluence mid-sized sedan, Kangoo van and Twizy quadricycle. CEO Carlos Ghosn said that EVs will account for 10% of all cars sold throughout the world by 2020. Foucher, who is 48 years old, will report to Philippe Klein, Renault's executive vice president of corporate planning, product planning and programs. Foucher started her career in Renault in 1989 in the quality-control division before she moved to the customer research division in 1993.
After three years, she became a part of Renault's product division, where she served as the product manager for the fourth-generation Espace, deputy product manager for the second-generation Laguna and the boss of upcoming projects. In April 2007, Foucher became a product director. In 2008, she was named as one of Automotive News Europe's 25 Leading Women in the European automotive industry. Foucher got her engineering degree from Agro Paris Tech. Ecole Centrale Paris is where she got her master's degree in quality management.
