* Tesla 1st electric brand in France in 2024, Renault 2nd-AAA

* Increased price competition in recent months-Renault

* New Scenic starts at 40,000 euros

* Mégane starting price cut by 10% * Price cuts across the range

* Volkswagen ID price cuts in France

par Gilles Guillaume

PARIS, January 10 (Reuters) - Renault wants to resume its offensive on the French electric vehicle market in 2024, which was dominated last year by Tesla, the French sales director of the brand au losange told Reuters, thanks to the arrival of new models and a first price cut for its Mégane.

"The first lever for 2024 for the Renault brand is to resume the electric offensive, since we are second (...) and we have models (...) and a new range of products on the way", said Ivan Segal in an interview.

A forerunner with Nissan in battery-powered vehicles in the previous decade, Renault has since been supplanted by electric newcomers such as Tesla.

While the French automaker sold almost 18,000 electric Méganes last year on its home market, the Californian group registered almost 25,000 Model 3s and over 37,000 Model Ys, while the MG brand of China's SAIC sold 20,000 MG4s in its first full year of sales in France.

According to data from AAA Data, in 2023 Tesla occupied the top spot on the podium of electric brands in France, with almost twice as many registrations as Renault, in second place.

The group's counter-attack includes the launch of the new electric Scenic, for which prices were unveiled last week, and the arrival of the R5 in the second half of the year, two important models to replace the Zoé and Twingo at the end of their careers.

Renault, which last year refrained from following Tesla's drastic price cuts in several markets, has also decided to lower the starting price of its Mégane by 10% in January, from 38,000 to 34,000 euros in France, excluding bonuses.

After deducting the public subsidy that the Model 3 and MG4 are deprived of this year, the French sedan thus widens the gap with Tesla's 43,000 euros, and is slightly less expensive than its Chinese competitor, despite the latter's lower starting price (30,000 euros).

"Tariff or rent competition is stronger than a few months ago, and it's going to take a few more years for the electric market to stabilize," added Ivan Segal.

"It's not illogical that we're going to have fairly significant (tariff) movements from new players and incoming players on a technology that's still fairly new, compared with combustion engines that have been tried and tested for so many years that things are more stable."

Ivan Segal made it clear that the Group was not changing its strategy of prioritizing value over volume, which is at the heart of the Group's turnaround under Luca de Meo.

The price cut for the Mégane, manufactured at Douai (Nord), was made possible by cost synergies associated with the start of Scenic production at the same site, continued Ivan Segal.

The electric family sedan starts at 40,000 euros, which is also the starting price for the ID range from Germany's Volkswagen, which also lowered its electric prices in France in early January.

To get back into the battery-powered vehicle race, the Renault group, which will publish its worldwide sales next Wednesday, is also planning to float its electric vehicle unit, Ampère, on the stock market by summer. (Reported by Gilles Guillaume, edited by Blandine Hénault)