10:18 am, May 27, 2020
The chance of Renault models being built at Sunderland in the near future increased today as the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance outlined its plans.
In a global press conference this morning, the alliance said Renault would become the lead brand in Europe with Nissan providing support.
It was also confirmed Nissan will NOT be retrenching from Europe, stating the brand was ‘strategically important’ for the region.
The alliance cited the fact research and development for Nissan’s electric vehicles has been carried out in Europe for years, as well as development of its crossover models like the Qashqai have been a success.
Following years of uncertainty for the alliance and the turbulence that followed the departure of former boss Carlos Ghosn, the three companies cemented their relationship at the conference this morning (Wednesday, May 27).
In an initiative dubbed ‘leader follower’, the alliance said the brand with the largest presence in each global region will take the lead.
In Europe, that will be Renault.
Executives said they will be looking for efficiencies across the group and in particular in factories. Nissan will be taking the lead on C-segment SUVs, like the Qashqai, with Renault dealing with smaller cars.
Nissan currently builds the Qashqai at its Sunderland plant where it is not currently running at capacity.
The alliance said it wants all of its plants running at maximum capacity – when they are at their most cost effective – and by making Renault models alongside Nissans this could be achieved.
Renault and Nissan already make the Micra, Clio and Zoe in the Flins factory in France so building models from both companies in the same plant is not unusual.
A spokesman for Renault UK said: ‘Today’s announcement reaffirmed the strength of the alliance and presented a new business model for how member partners will improve their competitiveness, efficiency and profitability. We cannot comment on speculation with regards to future developments.’
David Bailey, professor of business economics at the Birmingham Business School, said this could be great news for the UK automotive industry.
He said: ‘This might mean Nissan closing its Barcelona plant and some Renault SUV production being shifted to Sunderland with Renault, Nissan and – down the line – Mitsubishi models being made off the same platforms.
‘If that is the case then it would safeguard the Sunderland plant in the short to medium term which will be a huge dose of good news for UK auto given the Brexit uncertainty that has swirled around the plant.
‘Big issues remain for the partnership. It remains very unbalanced in shareholdings, and the French government is about to become an even more activist shareholder in the firm. It will offer a huge support package to the French auto industry and Renault in particular – and will want to see production ‘relocalised’ to France in return for big state support.’
Nissan is set to outline its plans further in a press conference tomorrow (Thursday) and Renault will make announcements separately on Friday.
However, the future for Mitsubishi in Europe is unclear.
During the press conference, one of the alliance executives said: ‘We still need more time to fix the future direction [of Mitsubishi]. It is currently not clear to us.’
A spokesperson for Mitsubishi Motors in the UK added: ‘Mitsubishi Motors will announce its Mid-Term Plan update in a few weeks, which will then clarify its continuing presence in Europe, but in the meantime it is worth reiterating that Mitsubishi has been assigned the lead in C/D PHEV development within the alliance.
‘Mitsubishi Motors is synonymous with plug-in hybrid technology thanks to the best-selling Outlander PHEV and demand for this technology is expected to increase massively in the coming years, particularly in Europe.’
Car Dealer Magazine has contacted the respective brands for comment.
Nissan could build Renault models at its Sunderland plant in boost to factory
Nissan could retrench from Europe completely to focus on other markets
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