Visitors to the factory of the car manufacturer Renault in Maubeuge, September 24, 2016. – Sarah Alcalay
What battle plan in the face of the crisis? Emmanuel Macron will make “important announcements” next Tuesday as part of a plan to support the
automotive industry, weighed down by the
coronavirus, a source close to the executive told AFP on Saturday. “This plan has different components: industrial sovereignty, transition to clean vehicles, and also aims to preserve the competitiveness of the sector,” said this source. “It is the president who will bring the sector plan to its level,” she added, stressing that there is an “industrial issue, an issue of jobs and transformation of the sector towards transition and conversion to clean vehicles ”.
She notably underlined the “big preparatory work done by the Ministers of Economy and Finance as well as of the Ecological and Solidarity Transition”, Bruno Le Maire and Elisabeth Borne. Bruno Le Maire said Thursday in Le Figaro that the head of state would announce “next week a support plan for the automotive sector”, after having indicated on Monday that
it was he who would tackle it “within 15 days”.
Pressure on Renault
According to The ParisianEmmanuel Macron will present a plan that will include the reinstatement of a premium for the purchase of a hybrid vehicle and an increase in that for electric cars and the premium for the conversion of an old diesel. Bruno Le Maire said that the support plan would be geared towards green technologies. He asked in return for a relocation of productions to France.
The government also raised the tone during the week vis-à-vis Renault, in which it is a shareholder up to 15%. Bruno Le Maire on Thursday submitted the green light for a loan of 5 billion euros to commitments, while the Renault group must unveil on May 29 the outlines of a savings plan of 2 billion euros. Edouard Philippe had warned Wednesday that the government would be “uncompromising” on the “preservation” of Renault sites in France, at the time the manufacturer would consider, according to the Duck chained,
to stop four sites in France, including that of Flins (Yvelines), which assembles the electric city car Zoe and the Nissan Micra.
The European car market was halved in April after falling by half in March compared to last year. The sector in France weighs 400,000 direct industrial jobs and 900,000 in services.
