Renault wants to shift more production away from France, French union sources leaked to Reuters, and to maximize the disgrace, the jobs will go to Turkey, a country not in high regard in islamophobic French circles. Renault plans to build more than 70 percent of its Clio subcompacts in Turkey, the union sources said. Renault issued a weak denial that reads like a confirmation.
The union official told Reuters that during internal presentations, Renault disclosed plans to source less than 30 percent of the new Clio model from France. “This was presented as a decision,” one of the sources said.
42 percent of Renault’s overall European deliveries were made in France last year, but Renault wants to change this. “Renault’s gradual transfer of production to lower-wage economies has already proved to be a sore point in relations with the French state, which owns 15 percent of the automaker,” says Reuters, which predicts that the shift to Turkey will “inflame tensions with workers and the government, its biggest shareholder.”
A Renault spokesman declined comment to Reuters. In the meantime, we received a comment which says:
“Renault confirms that New Renault Clio will be manufactured simultaneously at the Flins plant (France) and the Bursa plant (Turkey). But at this point, Renault cannot supply any figures on the share of New Renault Clio production between these two plants. In Flins, production will be divided between New Renault Clio and ZOE, according to demand.”
We read that both as a “yes” and a “if French would buy more cars, we’d make more in France.”