Ghosn’s goal: Make Renault more global February 20, 2006
Carlos Ghosn says Renault is too reliant on western Europe. That is why he wants the French carmaker to boost its sales outside the region by 80 percent to 1.2 million cars by 2009.
Strengthening the carmaker’s global presence is one of the top goals the CEO set as part of the Renault Commitment 2009 plan announced here February 9.
To meet this objective, Renault is expanding its engineering capability outside western Europe.
“Engineering will be decentralized,” Ghosn said. “To Romania, South Korea and Brazil.”
More engineers
Jean-Louis Ricaud, Renault’s executive vice president in charge of engineering and quality, said that Renault will keep its number of engineers in western Europe stable at about 15,000, but it will boost its engineering staff outside western Europe to 5,000 people from 2,000 people.
“We have to customize our products, not only to customers’ tastes but also to suppliers’ capabilities,” he told Automotive News Europe in an interview. “It is the symbol of Renault going international.”
Renault Samsung Motors, the carmaker’s Korean subsidiary, will hire 1,000 new workers in 2006 and “dramatically increase” the number of engineers at its technical center, said Managing Director Jerome Stoll during a press conference in Seoul, February 16.
He didn’t say what percentage of the new hires would be engineers.
Renault also will boost its engineering strength in Romania at its Dacia subsidiary.
Dacia’s Pitesti factory, the mother plant for the Logan low-cost family car, will have to handle engineering work for Renault’s assembly plants in Turkey, Iran and Russia.
Combined, the four countries have the potential to produce more than 1 million vehicles: 350,000 each in Romania and Turkey; 300,000 in Iran; and 60,000 in Russia. If the plants reach those capacities that means nearly one-third of the 3.3 million cars Renault plans to sell by 2009 will be sourced from developing countries.
Fixing Brazil
Another priority Ghosn set for Renault was to improve its operations in South America’s largest market.
“Brazil is a failure,” said Ghosn. “We did not produce enough locally.”
All Renault can show for its $1.3 billion (about E1.1 billion) investment in the country since 1997 is a meager 2.9 percent market share, he said.
The new man in charge of Renault’s operation in the region is Chief Financial Officer Thierry Moulonguet, who is one Ghosn’s most trusted lieutenants.
Moulonguet was part of the original team of Renault executives that went with Ghosn to Tokyo in 1999 to save Nissan from bankruptcy.
He said that the launch of new products – notably a four-door Megane lower-medium car – should boost Renault sales in Brazil.
Moulonguet was put in charge of the region following a reshuffling of the carmaker’s regional management earlier this month.
Four of the five regions are under the direct responsibility of a member of Renault’s top executive committee.
Ghosn says this ensures that “international operations are on the agenda each time the committee meets.”
Last year, 27 percent of Renault’s 2.53 million cars sold worldwide were outside Europe.
Of the 800,000 additional cars the company aims to sell by 2009, only 250,000 are destined for Europe.
The rest will be sold elsewhere in the world.
In three years, Ghosn wants Renault to have global sales of 3.3 million units.
- Posted in : Uncategorized, Renault
- Author : Bullet
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