Renault’s Slovenian Plant Cuts Output; Prepares to Team With Daimler

VIENNA – Revoz, Renault’s factory in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, which currently is running two and a half shifts, will eliminate its night half-shift effective April 26 amid slowing demand.

“In the past few months, we have had a fall in orders, which is the result of a significant fall in the European market," Revoz says in a prepared statement.

The auto maker suspended output for one week in February and will halt production for three days at the end of March.

As a result of the switch to two shifts, Revoz will cut 331 jobs, including 54 permanent and 78 temporary employees, plus 199 contract workers.

The Revoz plant is scaling back production even though its main product, a facelifted version of the Renault Twingo hatchback, only reached dealerships earlier this year.

In January Revoz was producing 780 cars a day, including more than 600 Twingos. The factory’s portfolio also includes the Renault Wind 2-seater roadster and older-generation Renault Clio II hatchback. The Twingo and Wind models are manufactured solely at Revoz.

The facility built 174,127 units in 2011, down 17.7% from 2010. Annual production peaked at 212,860 in 2009. The auto maker does not specify the volume it expects to produce in 2012.

“We aren’t issuing forecasts for this year,” Revoz Chairman Ales Bratoz told WardsAuto earlier this year. “Much will depend on the general market situation. You know some signs have not been good. There are too many factors where we don’t know how they will develop during the year.”

Revoz says it expects to add jobs about 18 months from now in conjunction with the production launch of two new models in cooperation with Daimler.

The collaboration, internally called the Edison project, will result in assembly of the successor to the current Twingo and a new Smart 4-seater at the plant in Novo Mesto.

“Serial production of the new models will start at the end of 2013,” Bratoz says. “All areas of the plant need to be prepared for the new challenge. The biggest change is the new platform.

“We will do some construction work, mainly in the paint shop, because there will be some process changes,” he adds. “Due to environmental regulations, we will go for water-based painting.”