"Yes, Renault can disappear." Invited last Friday on Europe 1, the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, was not in the language of wood to speak of the French car manufacturer. "There is an urgent need to act. Renault is in serious financial difficulty." Proof of this is this Friday is the day of the announcement of a cost reduction plan of two billion euros. This should go through the elimination of 15,000 jobs worldwide, including 4,600 in France.
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But will that be enough? For Patrick Pélata, former CEO of the group now head of a consulting company, it is also necessary to tackle the heart of the problem. "Can Renault recover? I hope so," he explains to Europe 1. "But there are a number of conditions, of which I think a real plan, that is to say, a product plan adapted to the automotive world as it has started to transform. I always find it as bizarre that we first make an industrial plan before having a short plan. "
Operational crisis and talent flight
After the Ghosn era and the race for volumes, we now need a new strategy, less costly and more effective in terms of marketing. This will be the challenge of the future boss, Luca de Meo, who will arrive on July 1. The group must also resolve its operational crisis, that of management and ... the flight of talent. This seems inevitable, especially in engineering. A loss of skills which greatly complicates the necessary recovery.
In any case, Renault has work to do. Especially if the group counts on the loan guaranteed by the State of five billion euros which has been proposed to it. Bruno Le Maire indeed quickly conditioned this loan on commitments, in particular on the support of employees who work on the sites promised to be closed.