Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn still hopes to see ‘reasonable’ sales figures from the European car industry, despite the economic crisis Europe is currently engulfed in.
Speaking at the Tokyo motor show, Ghosn said orders for new cars were drying up at present, which would mean registrations at the start of 2012 would be down.
“This will of course continue if the euro crisis continues,” said Ghosn. “But [EU members] have spent more than 30 years building up Europe, so I don’t expect Europe being passive with what’s happening.
“Hopefully we will see something reasonable in Europe in 2012. If it’s down by as much as 10 or 15 per cent, that would be a shock.”
Ghosn also said the strength of the Japanese yen was damaging the export market for cars built there and thought that action needed to be taken.
“Producing cars in Japan for Japan is not a problem because we compete on an equal footing,” said Ghosn. “That is not at risk. Exports are at risk. We cannot compete on currency. It’s a problem for future employment in Japan and is totally uncompetitive.
“We’re committed to Japan, our strength is here so we have no interest in pulling out. That's why we are talking to the government about sorting the currency problem.”
Mark Tisshaw
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