Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi They have presented this Wednesday the key points of their new production alliance around the world, which will mean the withdrawal of Nissan from production in Europe, which will most likely mean the closure of the factory of the Japanese brand in Barcelona. The group has presented this new alliance worldwide at a press conference between France and Japan at 9 am CET, confirming the worst omens for the interests of Spanish industry.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida He has said that “we are going to focus on our strengths”, which means that they concentrate their production in the areas where they have a leadership, which are mainly Japan, China and North America.
Renault, meanwhile, will focus on Europe, Russia, South America and North Africa, while Mitsubishi will focus on Oceania and Asean (Southeast Asia).
The alliance with the other two brands, Uchida has reiterated, is the tool to survive in a world with profound changes caused by the coronavirus and its disease, covid 19. A message that has also been expressed by the CEO of Mitsubishi Motors.
Renault will make SUV in Europe
With this change, Renault will lead the renewal of the new small SUV models in Europe (the type of utility car most in demand at the moment). This supposes the reverse gear of Nissan in the continent, where it mainly has two factories: Sunderland in England, and Barcelona, which only made industrial models.
Nissan keeps the larger SUVs, like the Qashqai or the Renault Kadjar. Meanwhile, Renault is left with the manufacture of small SUVs such as the Renault Captur (which is made in Valladolid, like its hybrid model) and the Nissan Juke. Both the Qashqai and the Juke are currently manufactured in Sunderland, England.
Thus, as the alliance says in its statement, “with each company becoming a benchmark company in the respective regions, there are more opportunities to share fixed costs, as well as to take advantage of the assets of each company.”
“Our commitment is to manufacture in France,” reiterated the management of the French group, which has signed a pact with the Government of Paris to receive aid of 5 billion euros in exchange for having local production.
50% joint production
The integration will be much greater among the companies, which have been debating in recent years about whether to continue with the marriage or definitively break, with the case of Carlos Ghosn and his legal problems in the middle. Now, it is established that by 2025 50% of the group’s production is done jointly. The system, which they have named leader-follower, will focus on some leading products that will be given priority, followed by others with less market positioning.
–
