Renault might have to stop investments in Romania

The French Government wants carmaker Renault to stop developing its production capacities abroad, in exchange for a EUR 5 billion rescue package, French environment minister Elisabeth Borne said on Sunday, May 24, according to Reuters, quoted by Hotnews.ro.

In Romania, Renault has already started a EUR 100 million project aimed at increasing by 15% the production capacity of its local subsidiary Dacia.

"Before the crisis, in February, we announced that we are suspending part of the investment because we are analyzing the market. Part of the investments have been made, some are suspended because it is not the right time if we take into account the context and the various information," said Dacia CEO Christophe Dridi.

Investments in a new paint shop and a new chassis line were next but were stopped. Dacia has reached a production of 1,200 cars per day, not far from its maximum capacity - 1,400 units per day. However, further increasing the output depends not only on sanitary constraints but also on demand, the Dacia CEO explained in an interview with Forbes.

"There are two questions: one is whether we can produce more with these safety rules? If yes, we will. [But] another factor is the market: production will increase if the market demands will increase too (...) We are looking closely at what is happening in other countries. We are also looking at what governments are doing to help the car industry," Dridi explained.

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