French car maker Renault could reconsider the size of its 25 percent stake in Russia's AvtoVAZ if asked by the Russian government, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said on March 01. "If this 25 percent stake is to change, it is not up to us, it is up to the Russian government to ask us about it, and then we will reconsider," he told Reuters television in an interview.
When asked if the stake in the Lada-maker could be sold within the next two years, he replied: "No". Renault bought into AvtoVAZ for $1 billion in 2008, but the company's bet on a fast-growing Russian market fell apart as car sales halved during the recent economic crisis.
Ghosn was due to meet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on March 01 after launching new facilities to double capacity at Renault's Moscow plant, with the future of loss-making AvtoVAZ certain to be on the agenda. AvtoVAZ is due to announce a restructuring plan later this month.
The Renault CEO also could not rule out further vehicle recalls by its Japanese partner Nissan, which announced it would bring back 76,000 vehicles last week. "Nobody can say they will not have recalls in the future. We are being extremely attentive to the situation at Nissan," he said.
Comments
Comments are closed.