Ghosn: Renault May Have To Leave France

by Bertel Schmitt

September 28th, 2012 8:33 AM

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.

#BertelSchmitt #France #Ghosn #Japan #Nissan #PSA #Renault

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10 comments

Sgt Beavis on Sep 28, 2012

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

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- Moedaman on Sep 28, 2012
  
  Exactly. I forsee Ghosn at least moving Renult's HQ out of France so he can pay less taxes.
  
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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.

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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.

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- See 3 previous
- Bikegoesbaa on Sep 28, 2012
  
  It's no coincidence that those three regions are among the world's most expensive and difficult to manufacture and do business. There's a lot of ground between France/Japan/California and "third world economies" in places that offer similar or better infrastructure and stability at much lower costs. For example, the Southeastern US.
  
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- Th009 on Sep 28, 2012
  
  China is already getting too expensive for many low-skill manufacturing jobs -- witness the migration of those to countries like Cambodia and Burma/Myanmar.
  
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- Imag on Sep 28, 2012
  
  You actually point to an argument *for* globalization. If everyone is brought up to a similar level, there won't be anywhere cheaper to go. That would benefit all of us in the long run, but it will be a hard road for those of us who are used to getting paid well and buying cheap.
  
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- 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.
  
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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.

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- 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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