French carmaker Renault will build its new small engine with low fuel consumption in its factory in Romania, according to company representatives quoted by French newspaper Liberation. “Two new engines will be built in the next few months: an H4, in Romania, and an H5, in Spain, at Valladoid”, according to Renault's spokesman. The production will begin somewhere in 2012 or 2013 at the Dacia Renault plant from Pitesti.

This decision will impact the plant in Douvrin, France, which currently produces the engines for Renault's small models such as Clio, Twingo and the Dacia Logan cars. This will lead to a loss of 200 to 400 jobs our of the 3,450 in the Douvrin plant, according to media reports. However, Renault's spokesperson said that this won’t be the case, as there won’t be layoffs or any voluntary leaves under the new strategic plan.

Renault is a French automaker, founded in 1899. The Romania-based manufacturer Automobile Dacia has been a subsidiary since 1999 with the majority of shares owned by Renault.

Alex Camburu, alex.camburu@romania-insider.com