Renningen is located in the west of Stuttgart, between Leonberg and Weil der Stadt on the fringes of the fertile plains of the Neckarland.

Magstadt, Weil der Stadt, Leonberg, Rutesheim, Heimsheim Renningen lies in an area which even in the Early Stone Age was thickly populated.

The evaluation of archeological digs and finds show expansion of two early Alemannic settlements within the Renningen Basin north and south of the Rankbach.

Excavations by the then State Office for Historical Monuments in Baden-Württemberg in the Raite Industrial Park (1991) unearthed a number of farmsteads comprising three-naved longhouses, storehouses and pit houses (4th and 5th century).

Near the church there is a graveyard from the early Merovingian era excavated in 1989/90 by the State Office for Historical Monuments, which was abandoned c. 500 though it is questionable as to whether it served an actual settlement, since the only evidence for this is a single fragment of pottery found in the vicinity.

By the 14th century the community was organised to some extent, with the existence of a Schultheiß (Early form of Mayor) as well as a collective three-field system.

At the dawn of the modern era, Renningen was a large village, characterised by its craftsmen, its town boundaries marked by a wall, which exists to this day.

Kromberg & Schubert, the major cable harness supplier to the German car industry also have a presence in the town.

The DaimlerChrysler subsidiary MCC Smart previously had their main office in Renningen, as did Rinol AG, a manufacturer of floor coverings for industrial use, before their insolvency.

Rinol, managed by former „Entrepreneur of the Year“, Kurt-Jörg Gaiser, were floated on the stock exchange on the same day as Deutsche Telekom and were seen as an „Over Performer“ on the CDAX.

Since 1984 classical children's fairy tales like "Rapunzel", "Tischlein deck Dich", "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" or "Puss in Boots" have been rehearsed here.