Renault launches the first measures of its savings plan, revealed Europe 1 Thursday. The group has decided to part with a part of its distribution network, that is, ten garages (Orleans, Montpellier and Toulouse in particular) in the fifty or so that have its subsidiary, Renault Retail Group. "We will have to ensure that the cash generated by the sale of these establishments will be used to perpetuate the subsidiary and not to fill a bottomless pit," warns Stéphane Rivière, CFE-CGC delegate at Renault Retail Group.
"What was put in place was not consistent with market developments"
By selling these garages, Renault wants to bring in money and above all it wants to save money. "We must renovate our sites, we must bring more digital. Having fewer garages allows these renovations to be cheaper," said one at Renault headquarters. This measure concerns 1,600 employees. Renault ensures that at least in the short term, employment is preserved. The buyers, whose identities have not been filtered, have already been found.
>> Watch Matthieu Belliard's morning show in replay and in podcast here
The unions in this subsidiary express their weariness at being the adjustment variable on a regular basis. "What was put in place was not consistent with market developments," says Stéphane Rivière. "The evolution of the market, it is multi-channel, Internet, a certain number of things which it was necessary to set up. We wanted to set up organization systems which proved to be catastrophic for the company" , abounds the trade unionist.
The stock has lost a third of its value since January 1
"We ask the distribution subsidiary to run a 100 meters with two chains on the feet while the dealers run without any chain. What the manufacturer imposes on us in terms of standards and additional registrations weighs on the results of the subsidiary," said -t it.
Even if Renault refuses to do so to raise its share price - the stock has lost a third of its value since January 1 - this sale is clearly made to send a sign to the markets. Renault wants to prove that it is well engaged in a big savings plan. The group does not exclude any track like the most radical: the closure of factories in France.