Renault is confident a labor deal will be reached soon

RENNES -- Renault is confident it will reach a deal with unions next week to restructure the automaker's operations in France.

Gerard Leclercq, vice president and head of the company's France operations, said an agreement is likely to be reached February 12. "Following nine rounds of negotiations, all the proposals and agreements that could be discussed in a labor contract were covered," Leclercq said in a statement on Wednesday.

French unions have so far rejected Renault's plans to cut 8,260 jobs in France by 2016, freeze wages and increase working hours. The automaker also wants unions to agree to allow the company to move workers between different sites in France.

Renault had indicated to unions that models from the company's alliance partner Nissan and industrial partner Daimler could be built in Renault's under-used French factories if a deal to improve competitiveness is reached.

Earlier this week, Nissan said it will build a new mainstream compact car in Barcelona, Spain, dashing French union hopes that the 80,000 units of annual production of the VW Golf rival would be allocated to a Renault factory in France.