Auto giant Renault to hire 1,000 employees in France
French carmaker Renault said Friday net profit for 2015 was up nearly 50 per cent to 2.96 billion euros despite its Russian subsidiary Avtovaz getting hit by the economic slowdown in Russia.
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The French automobile giant Renault saw its turnover grow by 10.4 percent to 45.3 billion euros last year. The success of new models such as Captur and Kadjar SUVs allowed the French company to hit profitability targets two years in advance.
CEO Carlos Ghosn said 2015 had been a good year. "On the basis of these results, we can look forward to 2016 with a certain degree of confidence," he added.
Ghosn said he was confident the global car market would grow between 1.0 and 2.0 percent this year and said he was counting on Russia and Brazil - another developing market that slumped in 2015 - picking up.
But the economic downturn in Russia hit its Avtovaz unit there hard, with a loss of 620 million euros.
The French company said it was in talks with shareholders of Avtovaz's holding company "with a view to a recapitalisation which could lead to the consolidation of the company by Renault".
Renault will take on 1,000 employees on full-time contracts in France in 2016, "to underpin the growth of the group and meet our ambitions", Ghosn told a press conference.
- With AFP
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