Colombia. Renault-Sofasa celebrated the 54th anniversary of its production plant in Colombia and with it, the start of its industrial operation in the country.
Founded on July 2, 1969 (Sociedad de Fabricación de Automotores S.A. by its acronym) counted in its beginnings with the shareholding of the Colombian Government through the Institute of Industrial Development (IFI) and the Regie National Des Usines Renault of France.
Throughout its history it had different corporate composition, being shareholders Toyota, Mitsui and the Bavaria Business Group. Today, it is an exclusive subsidiary of Groupe Renault.
A year after its foundation, in 1970, the first car was produced: the Renault 4 with the engine number 198440, of which 882 units were produced in the same year.
With this first model assembled in the country, quickly renamed "the faithful friend", Renault-Sofasa began the expansion throughout the Colombian territory and the industrial operation of the company began.
Since its inception, it has stood out for being a pioneer in terms of safety, design, technology and maintenance in the automotive sector. To cite a few achievements, it was one of the first brands to integrate the most advanced safety concepts, such as airbag and ABS.
It also innovated with the creation of a gearbox adapted to the Colombian topography and with the early implementation of the injection system in its models. In terms of after-sales, it revolutionized the market by carrying out inspections every 10,000 kilometers, offering greater benefits to its customers.
For 54 years and since the beginning of production with the Renault 4, 18 models have been assembled in the Envigado Plant, with high quality and taking care of every detail.
To achieve this level of development, Renault-Sofasa has worked hard in recent years on issues of industrial, digital and organizational transformation, as well as innovation to evolve the plant and put at the service of productivity, the automation of some of its essential processes, such as robotics and the use of Industry 4.0 technologies.
