[AUTO] The factories of Spain will not be affected by the global adjustment of Renault

[YaKuZa--BoSs]

It will reduce its global workforce by 15,000 people, 4,600 of them in France. But in Spain the capacity of the factories that it has in Valladolid, Palencia and Seville will not be touched.

 

 

 

 

Renault has presented this Friday an adjustment plan with which it intends to reduce its annual cost structure by about 2,150 million euros and which will mean the elimination of some 15,000 jobs in the world, never traumatic, of which 4,600 in France.

The adjustment, however, will not affect (or only marginally, in the case of some early retirements) the activities of the company in Spain. "There will be no reduction in the capacity of the factories that we have in Spain," said Clotilde Debos, interim CEO of the company.

The French multinational has three industrial locations in Palencia, Valladolid and Seville where it produces cars (the Kadjar, Captur and Mégane models), engines and gearboxes. Its total workforce, including the commercial and networking part, amounts to some 11,000 people.

20% LESS WORLD PRODUCTION
Also as part of this strategy, Renault will reduce its production capacities from four million vehicles in 2019 to 3.3 million in the 2024 horizon. Although in this case, the Spanish factories are in a much better position than that of Nissan in Barcelona, whose closure for the month of December was announced yesterday.

In fact, compared to the 55,000 vehicles of the Catalan factory, the two of its ally in Spain mounted 477,000 vehicles last year, more than 10% of the group's world production and only 3% less than the year before. In addition, they are recognized for their high competitiveness and, thanks to the different industrial plans implemented in recent years, they have achieved high-demand automobiles, the case of SUVs. Some projects that have involved the investment since 2016 of about 750 million euros.

FIRST PLUG-IN HYBRID IN THE BRAND, 'SPANISH'
As a result, for example, the Valladolid facilities exclusively assemble the small Captur SUV that has already started to be produced in its plug-in hybrid variant. It is the first car of the French group to use this technology, which will also be implemented in the compact Mégane that is made in Palencia.

 

 

The last industrial plan that companies and unions approved in these factories ends this year. This opens a door to seek opportunities for a future allocation of new models that will be conditioned by two factors. On the one hand, the French government's push for Renault not to relocate and, on the contrary, to focus strategic activities in the country, in the case of electric vehicles that the brand has assured it will develop and manufacture in France, including a new 100-battery kWh.

In addition, it remains to be seen how the new global strategy of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance that establishes a distribution of regions and product development according to a leader-follower model operates. Under it, Renault will lead Europe and small SUVs, while medium-sized SUVs will be the responsibility of Nissan. Then, its production will be carried out where it is most competitive, which has not yet been decided but could mean, for example, that Renault assumed in Spain the production of the Captur models and its Nissan Juke counterpart; and its Japanese ally the Qashqai and the Kadjar in the facilities of Sunderland (United Kingdom) and which has remained its only factory on the Old Continent.