Renault May Not Survive European Downturn

Renault's chief executive warned on Friday that the French carmaker could disappear "in its current form" if it is unable to be competitive at home as European car markets face a lasting slump.

Renault would also not be able to avoid cutting jobs in France if the market's decline proves to be deep and lasting, Carlos Ghosn said in an interview with France 24 television during the Paris auto show.

Asked in a separate interview with RTL radio if Renault could disappear, Ghosn said: "In its current form, yes.

 

Northstar - 9/28/2012 1:15:21 PM

+1 Boost

Could not survive "in its current form" is a tad different than disappear as the headline states. A more likely outcome is a merger, oh just maybe with Nissan based on the management overlap, with the objective of creating a more global enterprise. There are too many firms competing for too little business, especially in Europe. Some companies have to go away.

mini22 - 9/28/2012 7:19:36 PM

-1 Boost

I thought Renault was insulated from this somewhat due to their merger with Nissan. In any event Renault like Peugeot need to focus on becoming export car companies like the Japanese. They should be selling cars in the US like Fiat is doing. Once Fiat buys the remaining shares of Chrysler from Veba and mergers fully with them they will have access to Chrysler funds. That should help them ride out the Euro car slump.