Renault Expected to Cut Work Force by 4,260 in Face of Decline, Union Says

o maker Regie Nationale des Usines Renault will cut its work force by 4,620 workers next year as a result of sharply lower sales and an expected slowdown in the European automobile industry, union sources said today.

Renault previously announced that it expects an $800-million profit this year, a 55% drop from a record $1.8-billion profit in 1989.

“We are predicting a strong decline in the European market in 1991 and we are adapting to it,” a Renault spokesman said without confirming the union sources’ figures.

The spokesman would say only that the labor reductions will be greater in 1991 than the 2,300 workers cut this year. If Renault reduces its work force by 4,620, it will bring the total number of workers down to 63,128 by Jan. 1, 1992.

Under the Renault plan, most of the cuts will come through early retirement, layoffs and financial assistance to encourage immigrant workers to return to their country of origin, the sources said.