Renault said on Friday it was launching talks with unions to restructure several French car plants, potentially leading to closures, as it confirmed plans to cut around 15,000 jobs worldwide.
Faced with a slump in demand that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis, Renault is aiming to find 2 billion euros ($2.22 billion) in savings over the next three years as it shrinks production and hones in on key car models.
“We thought too big in terms of sales,” Interim Chief Executive Clotilde Delbos told a conference call, adding the firm was “coming back to its bases” after investing and spending too much in recent years.
The company plans to trim its global production capacity to 3.3 million vehicles in 2024 from 4 million now, focusing on areas such as small vans or electric cars as it freezing manufacturing expansion in countries like Romania.
The company, due to bring ex-Volkswagen executive Luca de Meo on board as CEO in July, said it would also slash costs by cutting the number of subcontractors in areas such as engineering, reducing the number of components it uses and shrinking gearbox manufacturing worldwide.
