Renault says they have no plans to close Maubeuge plant

French automaker Renault has no plans to shut down its Maubeuge plant in northern France, Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard stated on Sunday, two days after the automaker announced 15,000 job cuts worldwide as part of a major restructuring.

The recovery plan, which would remove 4,600 jobs in France, aims to consolidate the Maubeuge site’s vehicle production with that of the nearby Douai plant.

“I have no intention of closing the Maubeuge factory,” Senard stated on LCI television on Sunday after thousands of workers and family members demonstrated outside the plant the previous day.

Under the proposals revealed on Friday, a parts reconditioning center in Choisy-le-Roi, south of Paris, is the only facility earmarked for outright shut down.

The automaker’s Caudan parts foundry in Brittany, western France, could also be sold as part of the plan, Senard said on Sunday. The plant is among the six that the automaker has placed under strategic review.