French carmaker, Renault, has announced plans to implement 15,000 job cuts around the world, even as it tries to remain afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm recorded its first annual loss in a decade last year.
The company reports that the number of vehicles sold dropped by 25% in the first three months of the year and plunged even more dramatically in April. Therefore, the firm is set to cut its annual global production capacity from the current 4 million vehicles to 3.3 million.
According to the company, one-third of the reductions (about 4,600) are expected to occur in France alone, either through voluntary layoffs or retirement.
The job cuts are in line with the company’s three-year plan to cut costs by $2.2 billion.
The firm is already in talks with the French government, which holds a 15% stake in the company, over a $5.5 billion emergency loan package.
Renault is a French multinational automobile manufacturer with its headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and has also manufactured trucks, tractors, tanks, buses/coaches, aircraft and aircraft engines and autorail vehicles.
In 2016, Renault was the ninth-largest automaker in the world by production volume. By 2017, the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance had become the world’s biggest seller of light vehicles, bumping Volkswagen AG off the top spot.
The company employs more than 179,000 people in 39 countries.
See Also:
