The automaker Renault wants to focus its activity in Brazil, its main center of operations in Latin America, on recovering profitability, its CEO, Luca de Meo, said on Thursday.
Brazil is “the main issue” in the company’s Latin American strategy, since in that country the objective of reaching a market share of 10% had previously been set, De Meo recalled in a telephone press conference with journalists after presenting the Strategic plan “Renaulution”.
Luca de Meo, the Italian who runs Renault, during the presentation of the new strategy of the French company. Photo: AFP
The mention of the neighboring country by the French company comes days after Ford announced that it was going to close all its plants and, therefore, stop producing in Brazil immediately.
The key to Renault’s plan is to change the group’s goal, previously focused on a large volume of production and sales, for achieving a high level of profitability.
And the same is true in Brazil, where Renault expects operations in that country to make “a solid contribution” to profits, he stressed.
The Renault Alaskan, which is manufactured in Córdoba, for now does not reach the Brazilian market. With the new strategy a new possibility opens up.
“The key in Brazil is optimization, not the rush to achieve market share at the cost of profitability,” summarized the Italian executive who leads the French brand.
De Meo noted that the company had to recently eliminate a production shift of one of its factories in Brazil, but assured that it perceives “a recovery” in the sector that, if sustained, will see Renault “in a very different position.”
In addition, it advanced the objective of placing Renault “one notch above” its current position in the Brazilian market, with more products from higher segments.
In this sense, the Argentine plant that Renault has in Córdoba It may become more relevant with the Alaskan pickup, which began production last year.
Until now, the truck produced in Santa Isabel was not in the plans to be exported to Brazil, Argentina’s main automotive partner. And it is, without a doubt, a much more profitable type of vehicle than a small and compact model. Although at the moment, there is no official mention that this will happen.
Within its regional strategy, Renault announced that it wants to orient its international presence towards the most profitable markets and segments, especially in Latin America, India and South Korea.
In any case, De Meo ruled out that the plan presented today implies a reduction in employment in the group, after the cut of 15,000 jobs worldwide announced last May. “There are no additional job cuts,” he said.
Sources: Renault – Agencies
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