Louis Renault: French Car Manufacturer Accused of Collaborating with Nazi Germany

Louis Renault was a pioneering French industrialist whose wartime role during the German occupation of France remains one of the country's most enduring historical controversies. Louis Renault was once celebrated as one of France’s greatest industrial pioneers — the man who revolutionized automobile manufacturing, designed innovative engines, and built the legendary Renault FT tank that helped the Allies win the First World War. But under the German occupation of France, his name would become synonymous with one of the most controversial chapters in French wartime history. When Nazi Germany invaded France in 1940, Renault’s vast factories in Billancourt were quickly absorbed into the German war machine. Over the next four years, they produced tens of thousands of vehicles for the Wehrmacht, fueling accusations that Louis Renault had willingly collaborated with the occupiers. While he insisted that continuing production protected his workers from deportation, critics denounced him as a profiteer who supported the enemy at a critical moment. Underground Resistance groups condemned him by name, and Allied bombers targeted his factories due to their strategic importance. After the liberation of Paris in August 1944, Renault surrendered to the new authorities, claiming he had acted only to preserve his company. One month later, at age 67, he died in a Paris prison under circumstances that remain disputed to this day. Official reports listed natural causes, but later testimonies suggested he may have been beaten or mistreated. Following his death, Renault was charged posthumously with economic collaboration. His factories were seized and nationalized in January 1945, creating the state-owned Renault company that still exists today. The debate over his guilt — collaborator or scapegoat — continues to divide historians, making his story one of the most enduring controversies of wartime France.This episode is part of the series Fascist Millionaires and Rich Traitors.Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at:WorldHistory.tv