Bloomberg -- Renault SA plans to create 2,000 more jobs while making nine new models in France as the struggling automaker reshapes operations in its home country and introduces electric vehicles.
The company is in talks with French unions to cut 1,600 engineering and 400 support positions between 2022 and 2024, according to a statement on Thursday. During the same period, it will recruit 2,500 staff, including in data science and battery chemistry.
In his effort to turn the Renault s largest shareholder into a French state, Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo has a fine line to walk in his bid for that company. Car manufacturer announced last year that it would reduce about 14,600 jobs worldwide including 4,600 or about 10% of its French workforce - and cover the production capacity by almost a fifth.
While Renault wants to add to that number, it also plans to make nine new cars at home by 2025, most of which will be EVs that are slated to be manufactured in a hub in northern France. These include the new Megane, Renault 5 and Kangoo, as well as an SUV and another car it didn t elaborate on.
The manufacturing plans depend on reaching agreement with unions. Renault called France a strategic and industrial center in a nod to the pressure it is under to keep jobs at home. In response to Renault's push, the CFDT union said it would demand guarantees that 750,00 vehicles be produced in France annually and that no sites be closed. The Carmaker's shares opened higher in early Paris trading, though the stock is up 19% for the year.
During the first half of last year, the automaker lost as much as record losses from semiconductor shortages, which has led to factory shutdowns, have disrupted production in recent months and caused multiple problem cases. Renault has lost the rivals Volkswagen AG and Stellantis NV in recovering from the pandemic because of its reliance on the European market, which has recovered slower than China or the United States.