Shake-up at Dacia Owner: 2,400 Jobs to Disappear, Romania Faces Risk

Adevărul reports on significant shake-ups at Renault Group, the parent company of Romanian automaker Dacia, with implications for its global engineering operations, including those in Romania. The French automotive giant is planning a substantial restructuring that could lead to the elimination of up to 2,400 engineering positions worldwide over the next two years.

This strategic shift is a direct response to the intensifying competition from Chinese manufacturers, who are rapidly gaining market share in the electric vehicle sector through aggressive pricing and swift development cycles. Renault aims to counter this by streamlining its processes, adopting methods inspired by its Chinese rivals, and accelerating the launch of new models. The company's CEO, Francois Provost, has outlined a transformation plan focused on enhancing innovation, reducing costs, and increasing speed in product development, targeting a 24-month development time for new vehicles.

While Renault claims these reductions will be achieved without forced layoffs, focusing on reorganization and optimization, the impact on key engineering centers outside France, such as Romania's Titu Technical Center, is a cause for concern. This center is a vital asset for Renault Technologie Roumanie (RTR), boasting extensive testing facilities. Any reduction in personnel there raises questions about the future of important development projects. Furthermore, the Dacia plant in Mioveni faces its own challenges, with potential job cuts affecting around 1,200 employees as Renault shifts some production projects to Turkey and Slovenia. This news is particularly sensitive in Romania, where Dacia is a major employer and a symbol of national industrial capability.

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to compete with Chinese manufacturers in terms of innovation, costs, and speed