Ghosn Says Renault Must Increase Productivity

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said the automaker must find solutions to increase productivity fast, as the European market heads towards its sixth year of decline.

“It’s a very comprehensive plan to try and bring back competitiveness to Renault in France,” Ghosn said today in an interview in Davos with Bloomberg Television. “There’s a good consciousness in France that the competitiveness of France needs to be enhanced.”

Renault, which reported the lowest sales in Europe last year, said it plans to increase its market share in the region this year as industrywide sales fall 3%. The automaker tries to force labor unions to accept the wage freeze this year in France, followed by raises of 0.5% in 2014 and 0.75% in 2015. In order to cut costs by 65 million euro, Renault also plans to increase work hours by 6.5% and eliminate 7,500 jobs in France by 2016 to cut other 400 million euro.

“We are facing a very tough European market,” Ghosn said in the interview. “The best thing we can hope for is a market stabilization, so in Europe the question is how do you gain market share, and that’s a function of products.”