PARIS -- Renault told unions that it plans to produce a total of more than 700,000 vehicles a year in France and will allocate nine new vehicles to French factories.
The automaker is in the midst of negotiations for a three-year agreement governing domestic production, technical and support activities as it transitions to electric vehicles.
Renault plans to cut 2,000 jobs in France through early retirement and buyouts, but plans to increase employment by 500 positions by hiring in high-tech areas such as data science and battery chemistry.
Renault affirmed the production and jobs figures in a negotiating session on Tuesday, according to the automaker and unions.
"The group confirmed its ambition to allocate nine new vehicles to French factories, aiming the production of more than 700,000 vehicles per year," Renault said in a statement.
“These would be high value-added vehicles, either electric or utility vehicles, and would put France at the heart of Renault Group’s industrial and technological strategy.”
Renault is centralizing its electric-vehicle activities around a cluster of sites in northern France.
Unions have said they will not accept involuntary layoffs or any factory closings.
Renault has has already announced about 4,600 job cuts in the country as part of a broad restructuring and cost-cutting plan put in place in early 2020. The group recorded a record 7.29 billion-euro ($8.4 billion) loss in the first half of 2020, but swung to a small profit in the first half of 2021.