The French carmaker warned that unless unions accept its final offer, it could cut manufacturing capacity at its Spanish plants, withhold new vehicle allocations, and risk current jobs.The Spanish unit of Renault said on Thursday it was suspending its plans to allocate new vehicles to be manufactured in Spain after not reaching an agreement with unions, opening the door to choosing other countries for its production.
The suspension affects three new electric and hybrid vehicles that were planned to be manufactured from 2028 in the city of Palencia under a new manufacturing platform, and maintaining the production of two other hybrid models in a plant in Valladolid. About 6,000 people work in both factories.
The French carmaker said in a statement it was its last offer to unions and that without an agreement it would lower the manufacturing capacity at its Spanish plants, would not allocate new vehicles nor guarantee maintaining the current number of workers.
The suspension is a blow to Spain, Europe’s second-biggest carmaker, which has sought to attract new automobile investments in recent years by offering public aid as well as its lower labour and energy costs compared to other nearby European countries.
The CCOO union leader at Renault, Sergio Garcia, said he was surprised by the carmaker’s decision and said unions wanted to continue negotiating.
“We have time. The positions are not so far away as they seem,” he said.
Unions were seeking improvements in salaries and overall working conditions, including lowering the temperature inside the factories as they can reach 35 degrees Celsius during the summer, he said.
