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Renault said it would strive to overcome any "mistrust" between it and Nissan, brought on by the fall of former managing director, Carlos Ghosn, and to ensure that the company "s job is still in place. alliance between the two manufacturers is "irreversible".
Thierry Bolloré, the new CEO of the group, said that the arrest of Mr. Ghosn in Japan last November on suspicion of misconduct had caused "serious unrest".
He added that Renault would ensure that this does not affect operations and that mistrust is not a problem for the alliance between the two companies.
"Our goal within the alliance has not changed, which means that we want to make it irreversible," he said, echoing the comments made a year ago by Mr. Ghosn.
Before his arrest, Mr. Ghosn had asked for a merger between the two. Nissan has resisted this, fearing to give Renault too much control, the Financial Times reported last year.
Mr Bolloré said on Thursday that he would "neither confirm nor refute" information on planned changes in the alliance structure. For now, both companies own shares in each other, but Renault has more control.
He said companies needed to move faster to save money, invest in electric vehicles and other technologies, and offset higher costs.
advisable
Renault's annual turnover decreased by 2.3% to € 57.4 billion in 2018, mainly due to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, but also due to the decline in diesel sales in Europe. according to Mr. Bolloré was a permanent change in the region.
Operating income came to just under 3 billion euros, compared to 3.8 billion euros last year, while the net result, which includes shared profits. from Nissan, has grown from 5.3 billion euros to 3.4 billion euros, mainly due to lower contributions from its Japanese partner.
As a result, Renault said it was aiming for an "operating margin of about 6%" in 2019, down from the 2018 target of more than 6%.
He also stated that he expected "both the world and European markets. . . to be stable compared to 2018 "unless the UK left the EU without a trade agreement, incurring customs duties and border controls.
Mr. Bolloré also revealed that the margins of some Renault electric vehicles were now comparable to those of other product lines. "We are no longer afraid that electric cars will reduce our profits," he said. About 3% of last year's revenues came from the sale of electric vehicles, Bolloré said. Renault cars accounted for 22% of electric vehicles sold in Europe last year.
Mr. Bolloré and the new president, Jean-Dominique Senard, were appointed last month to replace Mr. Ghosn.
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