The French government has warned Renault that shifting production to Turkey must not lead to job losses in France.
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Renault was reported at the weekend to have said that it might move all production of the new fourth-generation Clio to Turkey to cut costs. It is currently manufactured at Flins in France as well as at Bursa in Turkey.
However employment minister Laurent Wauquiez said there was a line Renault must not cross – “which is no plant closures and no layoffs”.
Wauquiez told RTL radio: “Renault is not just any ordinary company – the state holds 15% and we are not going to be spectators because this is a company that has received a lot of assistance during the crisis.
“A company that “sells to French consumers must, as much as possible, produce in France.”
Following the report in La Tribune newspaper, a Renault spokesman said the Clio 4 would continue to be produced in France and Turkey.
A spokesman for president Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party said a complete shift to Turkey would be “unacceptable” and called for the state to block any such move.
