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Renault CEO Louis Schweitzer said in an interview with Korean reporters that Daewoo Motor would not be able to survive without equity participation or support from one of the world¡¯s top-ten automakers. The interview was held at the Renault head office in France Thursday. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is the world¡¯s fifth largest automaker. Schweitzer said the top-10 includes six giants -- General Motor, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Renault-Nissan, and Volkswagen -- and four mid-level auto makers, BMW, Honda, Porsche and Peugeot Citroen.
He added that only these 10 stand a chance of long-term growth. Schweitzer said Renault¡¯s affiliate in Korea Renault-Samsung Motors has been developing a three-part strategy. The first phase will entail restarting full-scale production at the French-Korean firm¡¯s Pusan plant. The company will aim to achieve the break-even point by 2004 in its second phase through the 2002 launch of the SM3, a local version of Nissan¡¯s Bluebird model. In the third and final phase, the Pusan plant will be expanded, along with expanding the model line.
Asked about the possibility of the Samsung Group re-entering the auto business, he said it would be out of the question for Renault to sell off its 70% in Renault-Samsung, adding that no secret agreements had been made with the group. Schweitzer also said Renault-Samsung has been working out plans to export the SM5 and SM3 to Russia, South America and Pacific Rim countries, but said that Renault has an agreement with Nissan that Renault-Samsung will not export any cars to Japan.
Schweitzer said Renault-Samsung currently imports part from the same Japanese suppliers as Nissan, but that the firm is looking into procuring all its parts domestically.
Schweitzer is the grandson of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, and his mother is the sister of Simone de Beauvoir.
(Kim Young-soo, yskim2@chosun.com )
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