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PARIS -(Dow Jones)- Renault SA (13190.FR) Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said Thursday there will "certainly" not be a recovery in the automobile market in 2009, and predicted the industry could be headed for a tough two years.
"We will emerge from the crisis - there's no doubt about that - but it will be a long one ... and certainly not in 2009," Ghosn said in a televised interview. "It will be difficult at least through 2009 and we may have two difficult years."
Renault will be profitable in 2008 thanks to good earnings in the first half of the year, before the collapse of automobile markets in mature economies, he said. Like other volume car makers grappling with plunging sales due to the economic and financial crisis, Renault was forced to revise down its earnings and sales projections in November.
Ghosn said he believes in 2009 the market will be worse than the second half of 2008. Auto sales in the U.S. have plunged by 40% in the last two months, while sales in Europe - Renault's most important market - have fallen 25%.
Ghosn, who has a reputation for being a turnaround wizard after bringing Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO) back from the brink of bankruptcy in the late 1990s, denied reports he might be considering a move to struggling General Motors Corp. (GM).
"It's always flattering to hear your name mentioned as a potential candidate for another job. But I have a commitment as head of Renault, head of Nissan and head of the (Renault-Nissan) alliance. And in a situation like the one we're experiencing I feel doubly responsible to get out of the crisis and to be among the companies that will profit from the rebound that will follow it."
Renault has a 44% shareholding in its Japanese partner, which has a 15% stake in Renault.
Ghosn reaffirmed his view the ongoing credit crunch is the main challenge facing industry at the present time. If the flow of credit isn't turned on again, he said, "there's a mortal risk" for the automotive industry that's got nothing to do with the financial health of individual auto makers.
"Credit is the lifeblood of the industry. If there's no credit available, if you finance long-term projects with short-term credit, if you're paying interest rates that are abnormally high ... nobody can withstand that."
Company Web site: www.renault.com
-By David Pearson, Dow Jones Newswires; +331 4017 1740; david.pearson@dowjones.com
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Publié le 11 Décembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones