Renault Australia confirms job cuts

RENAULT Australia has confirmed that it has cut 15 per cent of its local workforce as part of a restructure that the company says will enable it “to operate more efficiently”.

The French car-maker’s Australian arm released a statement announcing the job reductions, saying that it would be able to lean on Groupe Renault and the Renault-Nissan Alliance for resources.

“Renault Australia has undertaken a review of key areas within its business, to align its structure and processes to Renault’s global best practise in-line with its transition to a fully-owned subsidiary of Groupe Renault,” the statement read.

“This review has resulted in some operational changes and a reduction of just over 15 per cent of the 70-strong team, to enable Renault Australia to operate more efficiently, ensuring it meets the needs of its growing number of customers and leverages the considerable resources of Groupe Renault and its Alliance partners.

“Throughout this process, Renault Australia’s priority has been to ensure it maintains the high standard of customer service and strong relations with its various business partners, most notably the national Renault dealer network.”

Fifteen per cent of its 70-strong team means Renault Australia has made 11 people redundant.

The company has confirmed that the redundancies have already happened, with most of the cuts happening in the marketing department. GoAuto understands there are no further cuts planned.

The staff cuts come at a busy time for Renault’s management, following the departure of managing director Justin Hocevar in September, who was replaced by former Suzuki Australia general manager Andrew Moore last month.

Alliance partner Nissan also had a shake up in its management structure, with former managing director Richard Emery departing in similarly sudden circumstances just 11 days prior to Mr Hocevar.

Mr Hocevar oversaw Renault’s dealings in Australia for seven years, joining the French marque in September 2010 and leading a sales resurgence from 3622 sales in 2011 to 11,525 in 2015, with a 3.6 per cent dip in 2016 figures.

In 2017 Renault is 2.3 per cent behind its year-to-date 2016 figure, with 9099 new vehicle sales to the end of October compared to 9314 last year.

The new-generation Koleos SUV has done much of the heavy lifting this year with 2654 sales, nearly 1000 units ahead of its next-best seller (the Trafic van with 1692 sales) and 127.2 per cent increase year-on-year.