in Lyon, a concession will close because of a neighborhood deemed too poor
A few days ago, employees of the Renault Lyon Est site, located in Vaulx-en-Velin, learned of the closure of the dealership and workshops on December 31, 2022. The site belongs to Renault Retail Group (RRG), a subsidiary of the brand, which launched in 2020 a restructuring of its activities in France, one of the elements of the Losange savings plan.
The announcement made before the elected members of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) was “a shock” for the employees. Several reasons were mentioned during the presentation of a report on this site. Its situation thus poses a problem, with on one side a “declining” shopping center as well as partly empty offices. On the other side, the report evokes “areas of trafficking and lawlessness which are clearly described” to the activities.
But another reason is mentioned and causes a great reaction on the spot: according to the report, “the establishment is also surrounded by a population with low incomes per household, below the national average”. Clearly, the concession is located in an area that would no longer be in agreement with the targeted customers. Renault wants to go upmarket. Luca de Meo’s main objective is the C segment, with the new electric Mégane, the Austral and its future variants (7-seater and coupé), vehicles whose average price is well over €30,000.
For the opposition municipal councilor Ange Vidal (DVG) of the city, this does not pass. She told the newspaper Progress : “I am stunned by such remarks, which I will not let pass because they are unacceptable. How can a group like Renault, in which the State is a shareholder and which receives enough aid, afford to discriminate against the population of a city, to stigmatize it? The chosen one asked for an apology from the brand.
RRG’s communication department told Le Progrès “it is undeniable that the wording was clumsy, moreover it was deleted from the report at the end of this CSE”. RRG intends to reclassify the employees in the other Lyon concessions.