French President Nicolas Sarkozy grilled top managers of carmaker Renault on Saturday but failed to win pledges from them to center production of their new small car at a factory in France rather than in Turkey.
French Industry Minister Christian Estrosi has heaped pressure on Renault to make cars destined for the French market at home, even suggesting the state could raise its 15.01 percent stake in the group to get a bigger say.
At stake is where the new Clio 4, expected in 2013, will be produced.
Renault is looking at sharing production out between a plant in Bursa, Turkey and Flins near Paris, with most of the work expected to go to the Turkish factory.
Renault executive chairman Carlos Ghosn and chief operating officer Patrick Pelata talked for over an hour with Sarkozy and Estrosi.
They left shortly after 5pm without making a comment to reporters waiting outside the Elysee palace.
But a statement from the president’s office suggested Sarkozy had been unsuccessful in convincing Renault’s management to locate the lion’s share of the new Clio work in France.
It said Ghosn had agreed to keep jobs at the Flins plant and make both electrical and fossil-fuel cars there in future.
In a separate statement, Ghosn said he had confirmed to the president that the Clio 4 would be made in Flins and Bursa.
He said the future of the Flins plant was guaranteed and employment would be maintained.
“My responsibility and my motivation is to make Renault an innovative winner in an industry undergoing deep transformation,” he said.
Renault was privatized in 1996. In addition to the French government’s stake, Japanese ally Nissan Motor Co has 15 percent of the company. It is the country’s second-largest carmaker behind PSA Peugeot Citroen.
In February last year, France provided 3 billion euros (US$$4.33 billion) each to the carmakers in five year bonds, at a rate of 6 percent, to finance investments into clean vehicle production and the makers agreed to avoid slashing jobs last year.
European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said on Thursday that she would study again whether there were hidden conditions attached to these loans that limited the companies’ freedom to conduct their business.
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