Renault's 'Second-in-Command' Visit... Heightened Attention on Securing 'XM3' Supply

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Jos? Vicente de los Mozos, Vice Chairman and second-in-command of France's Renault Group, visited Renault Samsung Motors' Busan plant on the 29th. As Mozos is in charge of manufacturing at Renault Group, industry attention is focused on whether the allocation of the new XM3 model's export volume to Europe will be decided.

According to Renault Samsung Motors, Mozos visited the Busan plant in the morning to receive a status report and tour the production site. In the afternoon, a meeting with managers and employees of Renault Samsung Motors was scheduled.

A Renault Samsung Motors official explained, "Mozos' visit to Korea this time is part of his global plant tour in his capacity as head of manufacturing."

However, since Mozos is responsible for manufacturing at Renault Group, his visit could influence critical issues for the plant's operation, such as securing export volumes of the new XM3 to Europe. Therefore, there is keen interest in whether Mozos will convey Renault Group's position on this matter.

Previously, during his visit in February last year, Mozos warned, "The production costs at the Busan plant are already the highest among Renault Group plants," adding, "If production costs rise further, competitiveness in production volume allocation will be lost."

He also expressed the opinion that labor-management disputes needed to be resolved by March 8 of last year to secure XM3 export volumes.

However, labor and management ultimately failed to reach an agreement, continuing strikes and production disruptions until June last year. As a result, the decision on the allocation of XM3's export volume to Europe, initially expected in the first half of last year, has been continuously delayed. Currently, the Busan plant of Renault Samsung Motors and the Valladolid plant in Spain are fiercely competing.

Meanwhile, due to the breakdown of wage and collective bargaining negotiations last year, labor and management at Renault Samsung Motors have been in a strong confrontation involving strikes and partial plant closures for about a month since December 20 last year.

Subsequently, labor and management agreed to suspend strikes and plant closures just before the Lunar New Year holiday and to hold intensive negotiations from the 4th to the 7th of next month to reach an agreement.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.