Renault will construct 5 new hybrid SUV fashions at its Spanish vegetation in 2022-24 as a part of a brand new labor settlement with unions, CEO Luca de Meo mentioned.
De Meo visited Renault’s manufacturing unit in Palencia, which builds the Captur small SUV, with King Felipe of Spain and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday to announce the settlement. He didn’t say which fashions could be constructed there and at one other manufacturing unit in Valladolid, which builds the Kadjar compact SUV and likewise produces engines for Renault.
French and Spanish media, citing unions, mentioned the brand new fashions would come with the next-generation Kadjar, which might be expanded right into a three-vehicle household, with the addition of a seven-seat variant and a coupe-style model. The Palencia manufacturing unit would get a brand new automobile constructed alongside the Captur, probably branded as a Mitsubishi.
Renault Group recently reached an agreement to build two new “sister fashions” for alliance associate Mitsubishi Motors beginning in 2023, because the Japanese automaker reverses a choice to wind down operations in Europe.
The Valladolid engine manufacturing unit will construct a coming 1.2-liter 3-cylinder gasoline engine that will form the base of all new Renault drivetrains after 2025, coupled to Renault’s modular E-Tech hybrid system, the reviews mentioned. A plant in Seville will manufacture hybrid transmissions.
The announcement comes 10 months after alliance associate Nissan mentioned it could shut its three Spanish vegetation by December as a part of a wider overhaul.
A Renault spokesman didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
In line with de Meo’s Renaulution turnaround plan, the core Renault model is launching 5 compact automobiles within the subsequent 4 years. De Meo desires to shift Renault’s middle of gravity to more-profitable compact automobiles from the small segments, the place the model has been a market chief with the Clio and Captur.
Along with the next-generation Kadjar – which is able to share underpinnings with the Nissan Qashqai – Renault launched the Arkana coupe-style SUV this 12 months, and can launch the full-electric Megane-e towards the top of this 12 months.
The automaker will make Spain, which is Europe’s second-largest automobile manufacturing nation after Germany, a significant hub for its E-Tech hybrids because it seeks to refocus its enterprise to chop prices and enhance margins after reporting an 8 billion euro loss in 2020.
De Meo said in a recent interview with Automotive Information Europe that Spain is one in all a number of key manufacturing hubs for Renault Group, together with Romania, Turkey and Morocco, due to decrease prices than in its residence base of France. He described these nations as “profitable horses” that Renault was betting on to assist improve manufacturing efficiencies and decrease prices.
“This plan reinforces Spain’s place as Renault’s second residence,” de Meo advised staff on the Palencia plant.
De Meo didn’t give any funding particulars, however mentioned Renault’s new strategic plan would generate an estimated 12 billion euros ($14.3 billion) for the Spanish economic system within the subsequent three or 4 years.
Reuters contributed to this report