Finally the plant in Cordoba was chosen by the French motor company to produce the new model which will replace the Megane. This was announced by the Governor of Cordoba, Jose Manuel de la Sota, yesterday.
He said that the car produced in the plant will be commercialised in the four countries of Mercosur. De la Sota also said that the production of the car, which has not got a name yet, will start in 2001.
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The succesor of the Megane is going to be introduced at a price accessible for the whole of Mercosur. Three weeks ago, Jean-Alexander Menard, the Head of Renault in Mercosur announced the possibility of the Santa Isabel plant in Cordoba being chosen, but it was not definite yet, and he said that the plant would have to compete with the plant in Curitiba.
Renault also announced that they are planning to invest US$160mil in their industrial complex in Santa Isabel, to start the production of the two 4X4 models of Nissan ( one would be the Terra), and a new version of the Cedo.
$100 million will be for the Nissan project. Renault owns 36.8% of the package of the Japanese company, and the production of their two first models in Argentina, is part of the five vehicles that the Japanese company plans to launch in Mercosur in the next seven years. In the case of Cedo, the production will start at the end of 2001.
The Santa Isabel plant has already had an investment of another US$32mil in the production of the Cedo 2, which Renault plans to start selling from next August 15th on the Argentinean market.
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By GlobalDataDuring 1999, Renault group sold a total of 2.29 million cars and utility cars world-wide, which means a record in sales, with an increase of 7.4% in relation to 1998. The Argentinean branch leads the local business, selling more than 70,231 units last year, which represents a market share of more than 20%. After were Fiat, with 58,810 vehicles and 16.1%, and Ford, with 55,990 and 15,3%.
