the stock is up about 6 after the manufacturer raised profit and cashflow expectations the news lifted other european auto stocks too shares in stellantis which owns renault’s local peer peugeot as well as the chrysler business in detroit rose almost 4 renault said its operating margin this year would be 7 to 8 today’s analyst consensus is for 57 according to factset showing skepticism even toward the companys previous guidance for a margin of at least 6 one reason for the upgrade is the combination of unexpectedly strong prices and “mix”—meaning consumers are buying more expensive vehicles notably the company’s new hybrid sportsutility vehicle the renault austral falling commodity prices have also helped said chief financial officer thierry piéton the company has given off a lot of positive vibes lately on monday it talked through growth ambitions for its alpine sportscar brand at an event in the small english village of enstone where its formula 1 team is based a stake in this formula 1 business is being sold at a 900 million valuation to a group of us investors including the actor ryan reynolds last week it was the turn of renault’s electricvehicle division ampère which it plans to carve out of the group in the second half ahead of an initial public offering likely early next year the company said it expected the business to break even in 2025 assuaging investor worries about the weak profitability of evs renault is on a roll under chief executive officer luca de meo after a dire period following the arrest of former boss carlos ghosn the drawnout negotiations with nissan about the rebalancing of their alliance now seem something of a sideshow the real risk for renault may no longer be distraction from japan but competition from china which will inevitably cast a shadow over its minority ipo plan for ampère chinese ev champion byd launched in france this month as part of a wider european sales offensive as a mainly european massmarket brand without the scale of volkswagen or stellantis renault needs all the cash it can get before it hits hills again