Ghosn: Renault May Have To Leave France

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Renault chief Carlos Ghosn said in a radio interview with RTL that his company could leave France if it is unable to compete at home. Asked if Renault could disappear, Ghosn said: “In its current form, yes.”

Renault will not be able to avoid cutting jobs in France if the market’s decline proves to be deep and lasting, Carlos Ghosn said in another interview during the Paris auto show today.

According to Reuters, Renault has forecast a 13 percent drop in the car market in France and an 8 percent decline in Europe this year.

Due to its wider international footprint and its alliance with Nissan, Renault is in better shape to get alive through this slump, in one form or the other, than its rival PSA.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Sgt Beavis Sgt Beavis on Sep 28, 2012

    The new tax increase in France can't be helping things either.

    • Moedaman Moedaman on Sep 28, 2012

      Exactly. I forsee Ghosn at least moving Renult's HQ out of France so he can pay less taxes.

  • Vaggo Vaggo on Sep 28, 2012

    Nissan have already moved their EU HQ from Paris (near Renault) to Switzerland. and the Nissan HQ in Rolle is part of a new office building complex that I'm sure could be expanded to fit renault. It definitely has enough of space for corporate management and functions such as sales/marketing, purchasing, product planning etc. They can leave the Technocentre in France (the way Nissan have NTCE in the UK)and this could be a good way to move the Renault-Nissan purchase organisation out of Paris to a combined Renault-Nissan HQ in Switzerland.

  • Mullholland Mullholland on Sep 28, 2012

    Renault leaves France. Toyota leaves Japan. GM leaves California. What happens when all the workers in third world economies demand a living wage? In the future, every car will be made on the moon.

    • See 3 previous
    • Athos Nobile Athos Nobile on Sep 28, 2012

      @th009 And squander the experience already gained? nah. They will go west to the inner provinces, like it is already happening.

  • Tatracitroensaab Tatracitroensaab on Sep 28, 2012

    My heart aches for the French auto industry. They are in long term decline and do not really have enough exposure to emerging markets to survive. Renault will be okay, its ran by someone brilliant and its tied together with Nissan, but PSA? Toast. Whether you like French cars or not, one has to admit that no other country has ever produced strange or radical cars with such regularity. In an age of automotive homogeneity, the loss of the French auto industry is thus tragic indeed.

    • DC Bruce DC Bruce on Sep 28, 2012

      True enough. The Citroen DS cars are truly remarkable and were decades ahead of anything else. But this is becoming a mature business, as pricing pressure and the need for scale economies crush the low-volume, quirky manufacturer. Also, with the breakdown of national import barriers, the price a company pays for "sitting on its laurels" and not following a path of continuous product improvement becomes very high.

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