“Romania and Tangiers are now quite similar when it comes to competitiveness,” said Carlos Ghosn, Renault-Nisssan chairman and chief executive officer. There are some chapters where Romania is more competitive and some where Morocco wins.
The plant in Mioveni is more mature but Tangiers can become much more competitive because the customers do not care where their cars are made, Ghosn added. On the other hand, Romania is a EU member, while Morocco is not, he said.
Production capacity in Tangiers has already gone up to 400,000 units in the past year, while staying at 350,000 units in Mioveni.
“Renault should have had 200,000 and Nissan 200,000 but now Renault takes priority because demand is rising towards 300,000 units,” Ghosn said.
The plant in Tangiers is currently assembling Dacia Lodgy and Dokker, with the new Sandero coming soon. Moreover, Jean Christophe Kugler, senior vice-president of the Euromed region said Dacia Duster facelift model might go into production in Morocco, too, because of demand for it from Africa.
As for the Dacia brand, Ghosn said Renault uses it in Europe and Northern Africa. “And it’s not Dacia that is growing, Renault’s M0 platform is. M0 is [used] in Europe, Africa and the BRIC countries. Dacia has no specific models, its models are Renault models.”
Jean Christophe Kugler, who is also chairman of Automobile Dacia, says the plant in Mioveni can start assembling a new Renault model if the company so decides.
“We have engineers and technicians in Mioveni who are capable of making a Renault Megane or a Clio any time and the plant has the necessary equipment,” Kugler said.
The group is looking to optimize competitiveness and uses as many platforms in common as possible instead of increasing the number of platforms in a plant. Which is why it transferred the production of Renault Symbol from Turkey to Mioveni, because the new generation of Symbol uses the Logan 2 platform.
Renault’s policy about Dacia is to attract customers who could only have afforded only a used car before. Dacia cars are also a way of attracting long-term customers who would at some point upgrade to a Renault model.
Such a customer, Jean Christophe Kugler says, buys a Sandero first, then upgrades to a Duster and in a few years can afford to buy a Renault Koleos (Renault’s SUV, which costs upwards of EUR25,000 i.e.) as their purchasing power improves.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)