The French car company Renault announced its intention to manufacture electric van cars at its factory in the city of Sandouville, northern France, as part of the joint project "FleXis SAS", to compete with a company like Stellantis NV.

The company stated in a statement today, Friday, reported by the BBC, that it will employ 550 permanent factory workers over the next four years and invest an additional 300 million euros (324 million dollars) in the factory. The current workforce at the factory is 1850 people.

This step comes as part of the efforts of Renault CEO Luca de Meo to strengthen the local industry amid the transformation process currently witnessing the automotive industry. Last month, Renault unveiled its new electric car "R5" with an initial price of 25,000 euros, noting that this car will also be manufactured in France.

The new van will join Renault's fleet of commercial transport vehicles, which includes the Kangoo.

Renault and Volvo, the world's second-largest truck manufacturer, announced last October that each will invest 300 million euros in the FleXis SAS joint project over the next three years to manufacture a series of vans and provide other related services.

Yesterday, the French automotive group "Renault" sold a portion of its stake in the Japanese car manufacturer "Nissan," amounting to about 100 million shares, equivalent to about 2.5% of Nissan's capital.

Renault sold 99.13 million shares of "Nissan" after Nissan announced a share buyback program on March 27 of this year.

The shares represent about 2.5% of Nissan's capital, valued at up to 358 million euros (387 million dollars).

The French company has the right to sell the remaining shares in "Nissan," which amount to 181.56 million shares, which Nissan did not repurchase within 180 days.