Renault states it is seeking billions in state-backed loans, cancelling its dividend for last year and its chairman is taking a pay cut, as the French automaker tries to weather the coronavirus outbreak.
Jean-Dominique Senard’s pay will be slashed by 25% for the second quarter of this year. But interviewed Friday on RTL radio, the chairman of the board of directors refused to say how much in monetary terms the cut would cost him.
The company will cancel 300 million euros ($325 million) worth of dividends that was supposed to be paid to shareholders for 2019.
Senard stated Renault isn’t seeking to be nationalized but is attempting to secure state-backed bank loans to cushion the shock of the coronavirus crisis that has slammed demand for automobiles and shut down production.
He stated the loan amounts haven’t been repaired but could be as much as 4-5 billion euros (up to $5.4 billion).
