PARIS: French automaker Renault announced on Wednesday that it will consolidate three of its factories in northern France into a new legal entity, Renault ElectriCity, which will produce 400,000 vehicles per year by 2025.

Renault said in a press release that the new entity would create 700 jobs across the various sites, which currently employ nearly 5,000 people, by 2025.

Renault, which is seeking to produce fewer and more profitable cars under the leadership of its new boss Luca de Meo, is grappling with increasing competition in the electric car market, an area where it had an early lead but where Volkswagen is. catching up with his rival.

“The Renault group and the representative trade unions (CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT, FO and SUD) have signed an agreement for the future of Renault sites in the Hauts-de-France region,” said the car manufacturer .

“This agreement gives birth to Renault ElectriCity: the legal entity wholly owned by Renault SAS and bringing together the industrial sites of Douai, Maubeuge and Ruitz”, he added.

Douai is a car assembly site, Maubeuge a utility vehicle assembly plant and the Ruitz site, which manufactures gearboxes, will be given a new role in manufacturing electrical components, Renault said.

Renault shares remained unchanged at the start of the session, slightly underperforming the Parisian CAC 40, up 0.1%.