PARIS – Renault plans to cut as much as 20 per cent of its global engineering workforce over the next two years as part of an effort to streamline operations amid intensifying competition.
The French automaker currently employs more than 11,000 engineers around the world, a Renault media representative said on April 14, confirming a Bloomberg inquiry about the reductions. The cuts will be decided by Renault managers in different countries, the spokesperson said.
Chief executive officer Francois Provost has been aggressively cutting costs since he took over in July, in a bid to make the manufacturer of the R5 and Clio city cars more agile. Like other European carmakers, Renault is facing increasing competition in the region from Chinese manufacturers such as BYD. Its shares are down 12 per cent in 2026.
Renault has relied on Chinese parts and its research and development operations in Shanghai to develop the sub-20,000 euro (S$30,000) electric Twingo, which the company will start selling in 2026. Mr Provost has pledged to apply the lessons learned in China at its R&D hubs in France, notably at the the sprawling Technocentre complex near Paris.
There could be hundreds of engineering and support jobs eliminated in France as part of Mr Provost’s plan, Laurent Giblot, a CGT labour union representative, said in an interview. “The dismantling of our engineering is a big worry,” he said. “The cuts planned are drastic and it begs the question of how the group will be able to produce the 36 models planned for 2030.” BLOOMBERG
