PARIS, France - French car maker Renault is seeking government aid for its Slovenian assembly plant Revoz, where it would like to produce a platform for sub-compacts that it plans to develop in cooperation with German car maker Daimler AG, a senior Renault executive has told local business daily The Finances.
"We discussed Renault's new projects in Slovenia with Economy Minister Darja Radic. A decision has not been made yet, but the minister and I agreed that it is a winning combination", Jerome Stroll, Renault's executive vice president, sales and marketing, told Thursday's edition of the business daily.
Stroll could not say how big the investment would be, but Renault expects the government to chip in for 10% of the total. "We don't have the figures yet, but it will definitely be a big sum...This is one of the biggest investments in Slovenia and government help is necessary."
Stroll told the minister that in addition to providing an incentive for Renault, the government should consider helping the automotive sector. "We have suppliers we'd like to work with, but they're in poor financial shape...The minister confirmed the sector is strategically important for Slovenia so she will support it."
Revoz is one of Renault's most productive plants, producing 212,680 cars last year. It is also Slovenia's biggest exporter, with exports worth EUR 1.26bn last year, nearly its entire annual sales. Net profit exceeded EUR 20m.
The plant currently produces the Clio supermini, the Twingo city car and the Wind roadster. Production of the Wind was launched this year with the help of a a EUR 14m subsidy that the Slovenian government approved last year.
