French President Nicolas Sarkozy grilled top managers of carmaker Renault on Saturday but failed to win pledges from them to center production of their new small car at a factory in France rather than in Turkey.
French Industry Minister Christian Estrosi has heaped pressure on Renault to make cars destined for the French market at home, even suggesting the state could raise its 15.01 percent stake in the group to get a bigger say.
At stake is where the new Clio 4, expected in 2013, will be produced.
Renault is looking at sharing production out between a plant in Bursa, Turkey and Flins near Paris, with most of the work expected to go to the Turkish factory.
Renault executive chairman Carlos Ghosn and chief operating officer Patrick Pelata talked for over an hour with Sarkozy and Estrosi.
They left shortly after 5pm without making a comment to reporters waiting outside the Elysee palace.
But a statement from the president’s office suggested Sarkozy had been unsuccessful in convincing Renault’s management to locate the lion’s share of the new Clio work in France.
It said Ghosn had agreed to keep jobs at the Flins plant and make both electrical and fossil-fuel cars there in future.
In a separate statement, Ghosn said he had confirmed to the president that the Clio 4 would be made in Flins and Bursa.
He said the future of the Flins plant was guaranteed and employment would be maintained.
“My responsibility and my motivation is to make Renault an innovative winner in an industry undergoing deep transformation,” he said.
Renault was privatized in 1996. In addition to the French government’s stake, Japanese ally Nissan Motor Co has 15 percent of the company. It is the country’s second-largest carmaker behind PSA Peugeot Citroen.
In February last year, France provided 3 billion euros (US$$4.33 billion) each to the carmakers in five year bonds, at a rate of 6 percent, to finance investments into clean vehicle production and the makers agreed to avoid slashing jobs last year.
European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said on Thursday that she would study again whether there were hidden conditions attached to these loans that limited the companies’ freedom to conduct their business.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
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