Former Renault chairman and French Prime Minister, Louis Schweitzer, says he cannot envisage Paris taking a contrary stance to that of the European Commission (EC) surrounding the future of diesel.
The fuel has taken centre stage in a storm of controversy following the ‘dieselgate’ scandal which rapidly escalated to take the form of widespread hostility to the energy source, despite vigorous attempts by the industry to defend it.
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Bad publicity, coupled with gathering momentum towards hybrid and pure electric propulsion, is starting to make itself felt, but perhaps particularly in France, which has seen factories specialised in the fuel mull moving into alternative sources.
Around 12,000 people are directly employed in France in the diesel sector, with the backlash against it, particularly surprising in a country long-wedded to fuelling with the black pump.
“I am convinced France will go to European convergence,” the previous Renault chief and current president of Initiative France told just-auto on the sidelines of the recent Forum on the European Automotive Industry (FEAL) in Lille, grouping suppliers, OEMs and government officials in France’s primary manufacturing region for the sector.
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“I can’t see a French policy which would go against the European Commission. I am convinced the future is more electric than hydrogen. Both electricity and hydrogen rely on products which do not exist in nature. We need to manufacture hydrogen and batteries [are] a more efficient way to store energy.
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By GlobalData“Unless there will be a revolution, technological progress in batteries will be much more swift than fuel cells. I do not see how in the next five years this renewable energy will be able to compete with gas or nuclear energy.
“I believe car production in the world will keep on growing and the electric vehicle will become competitive. There are very high fiscal, tax benefits from buying an electric vehicle; this is a huge State benefit, so it is not currently competitive. It is [currently] a subsidised product, supported by specific policies.
“This leads us to a few reflections. There have been since 2008, two types of consumers; those who have a great passion and those who buy out of reason.”
Despite the undoubted, myriad challenges confronting the diesel sector, French manufacturing is in rude health after a precarious few years following the downturn after 2008 and the ensuring global recession.
The main two producers are making bumper numbers of products – with bumper bottom lines to match but Schweitzer outlined some of the thinking during the dark days of that former recession.
“We have two major car companies [which] were on the verge of death,” he added. “When I was president of Renault we had the idea of making one national champion, to merge Renault and PSA. That is the technique the British chose.
“In both those cases [Renault and PSA] the State is a minority shareholder and has around 15% in each company. We [also] have first class OEMs [suppliers] and four of them are Michelin, Valeo, Plastic Omnium and Faurecia.
“It is not something we could have imagined 15 years ago, [although] Michelin, yes. These companies need to contribute to our country they need to irrigate the entire country. France produces 2m cars per year, Germany 6m. France imports cars and Germany is a massive exporter. We are wondering why.
“It’s true France has high cost manpower, we are not at the same level as Czech Republic, Slovakia. Since 2014 we had a rational policy in France to manufacture close to where cars were being sold. We need to have more automated factories.
“I am very pleased with Renault’s decision to invest EUR1bn (US$1.2bn) in electric vehicles. All manufacturers have had to think about CO2 and petrol consumption. The choice for many years became even more complicated because France had a tax advantage in favour of diesel. I said to Renault we should try to fight for a better tax system to avoid what happened when we had to go from diesel to petrol.
“We have [also] got to know whether google – which is currently dominating the sector and making progress in autonomous – will google dominate on a global level or will there be competitors?
“Dieselgate – I am concerned [it] has had a major impact on our industry. I don’t think we will go back to diesel for cars in general. We don’t think we have found a substitute for heavy duty vehicles, unless it is gas. I think use of diesel will be reduced.”
The former Renault president added he was happy French State involvement in the automaker was now 15% as opposed to its previous 100% ownership and that Paris was a non-interventionist stakeholder.
“It think this 15% in an industry which is very much based on cycles, that gives us stability,” noted Schweitzer. “If you look at the major carmakers of the world, you see very few of them have shareholders which are completely different.
“It generates stability. In my experience the State is a very good shareholder.”
Schweitzer was Prime Minister of France from 1984-1986 serving under President François Mitterrand and CEO of Renault, from 1992 to 2005.
