JANUARY 10, 2002

A possible Renault sponsor?

RENAULT will launch its new Formula 1 team in a couple of weeks from now in Paris. The old Benettons are currently running in Spain in yellow and white color schemes and there is much speculation as to which companies will appear on the cars as sponsors. The team has title sponsorship from Mild Seven and there is expected to be a big deal with the Elf oil company but otherwise there have been no major rumors of new backers.

One company which may be involved is a new financial company which Renault has just launched. This will be one of the top 20 financial companies in France and will known as RCI Banque. This stands for Renault Credit International Banque but the new name has been adopted to extend to all the automotive businesses around the world which are controlled by Renault. These include Nissan in Japan, Samsung in Japan and Dacia in Eastern Europe.

RCI Banque has financed almost a million car purchases in 2001 and it would be a logical thing for Renault to use its new F1 team as a means of promoting the new identity of the finance division.

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