Renault nationalisation ‘isn’t on the table’: chairman

Additional investment by the French government into Renault would not be the ideal use of state resources, and nationalisation of the French automaker has not been considered, Automotive News Europe reported.

“It isn’t on the table. I have nothing against the state, I’m just saying that it’s not useful to spend taxpayer money to invest it in a company that needs to find its own resources,” Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said during a hearing in the lower house of the French parliament.

Renault received government aid in the form of a 5 billion euro (RM24 billion) state-guaranteed loan for the automaker to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Senard said that the loan will help improve the automaker’s treasury situation, helping it through the months of June and July.

The loan is handled by commercial banks and guaranteed by the government, and this would be repaid ‘very quickly’ if Renault ever drew upon it, the chairman said, adding that the pandemic created some major treasury issues.

Renault has been among the many automakers affected by the pandemic which has led to mass shutdowns of production, and subsequently mananged to resume operations in Portugal, Romania and Russia in April. The French automaker’s resumption hasn’t been smooth-sailing, however, as a French court ordered Renault to suspend production at its plant in Sandouville, France after re-opening at the end of April.

The chairman of Renault also said that the French automaker’s relationship with alliance partner, Nissan has entered an ‘incredibly positive’ phase, following prolonged episodes of strained relations in recent years. “We have put in the work, (and) we are in an incredibly positive dynamic,” Senard told the hearing at the French parliament’s lower house, adding that Renault is confident that sales – severely affected by the pandemic and the resulting lockdowns – will improve in France in the coming months.

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