Renault Gives In, to Build Zoe in Flins

Following the storm it caused with the possibility of moving production of the Renault Clio from Flins in France to the Bursa factory in Turkey, the managers of the manufacturer were summoned by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to a tete-a-tete to clear the matter.

Apparently, the president proved to be quite convincing and the fear that such a move will transform into job losses and plant closures in France was put to rest. Following the Saturday meeting, Carlos Ghosn, Renault's CEO, issued a press statement saying Flins will be, starting 2012, the place were the Zoe electric car will be built.

"Renault is a French company, a socially responsible citizen, attached to its industrial and technological roots. This is one of the reasons why we decided to produce in the Flins plant (France), near our 10,000 engineers, Zoe, the core of Renault’s Electric Vehicle range, starting in 2012," Ghosn says in the release.

As for the Clio, the car will be, for at least one more generation, born in France. After that, Renault is yet to take a decision.

"No decision had been taken concerning the production location of the next Clio in 2013. I confirmed to the French President that we will produce the Clio 4 in Flins, with a double sourcing in Bursa, Turkey. The future of the Flins plant is guaranteed and employment will be maintained at term."

"My responsibility and my motivation is to make Renault a innovative winner in an industry undergoing deep transformation."