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After TotalEnergies, it is now Renault’s turn to withdraw from Russia, its second largest market after France. A withdrawal that will be expensive for the group, which was just adjusting its accounts.
In Moscow (Russia)the Renault plant is now shut down. On the morning of Thursday March 24, a leader still present on the spot confirms this: “The factory now, it doesn’t work. Car production is arrested”. Faced with pressure and the conflict in Ukraine, the group suspends its activities. For several weeks, production had already been in slow motion. “The closure was planned, the factory has not been working since February 28”explains a factory employee.
Renault has three production sites in the country. Russia is the group’s second largest market after France. In Douai (North)the news worries the employees. “If it lasts for years, I think it can play on the group”says one of them. In total, Russia represents 18% of Renault sales. Leaving the country definitively would therefore cost the group more than two billion euros. “It is not impossible that Renault will have to cope by seeking capital”assumes Bernard Julien, economist.