France's finance minister has insisted that car making jobs in his country must be protected in the event of a planned €36bn mega-merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler.
Bruno le Maire told RTL radio that the government, which owns 15% of the French carmaker, was seeking"four guarantees" for the deal to go ahead.Mr le Maire also said he wanted any deal to preserve the alliance between Renault and Nissan, for French interests to"be well represented" on the board of the new organisation, and for it to commit to the future development of electric batteries in Europe.
A source told the Reuters news agency that Renault and Fiat Chrysler had given commitments about industrial jobs and sites, leaving the way open instead for white collar and engineering lay-offs as well as some plant downsizing.would create a company with a combined value of €36bn. It would produce 8.7 million vehicles a year, leapfrogging America's General Motors as the world's third biggest car maker, behind only Volkswagen and Toyota.