Novo mesto, 30 May (STA) - Revoz, the Slovenian assembly plant of France's car producer Renault, celebrated on Wednesday the production of the four millionth Renault car it has assembled since Renault first started working with the Slovenian car factory in 1972.
The Novo Mesto-based plant is now getting ready to assemble a new car model, yet CEO Kaan Ozkan could not reveal any details, saying new investments were confidential.
However, the five millionth car "will most likely not be a grey Clio with a diesel engine, but an electric vehicle, autonomous and more", production manager Jože Bele said at today's event for reporters.
Looking ahead, he said Revoz was counting on new projects and investment into production, on new technologies such as electric vehicles and digitalisation.
Ozkan did say, however, that Revoz, which currently produces four Renault models, was planning to produce 210,000 cars in 2018, close to its 2009 record of 212,000 cars.
This means that production at Revoz will continue in three shifts for at least another two years, according to Ozkan.
Bele said Revoz, which employs almost 3,400 workers, had returned among the best performing companies, having again become Slovenia's largest exporter last year.
What is more, it placed third in terms of revenue, which reached 1.6 billion euro, while its share in the country's exports and GDP reached 4.4% and 3.7%, respectively.
He said the launch of Clio production in 1993 and the rise in output had considerably improved Revoz's competitive edge and made it one of Renault's best factories.
The four millionth Renault car is a result of a strategic partnership which started in 1972, when the Novo Mesto-based Industry of Motor Vehicles (IMV) signed a contract with Renault to produce Renault 4 or "Katrca" as it is known in Slovenia, according to Bele.
Renault is now the sole owner of Revoz, which was established in 1989, with Bele dividing its history in five stages.
The 1972-1982 period, when IMV produced the Renault 4, was followed by the production of Renault 5 in 1983-1992 and the production of Clio 1 and Clio 2 in 1993-2002.
The fourth period came with the production of Twingo 2 in 2003-2014, and since 2014, Revoz has been producing Twingo 3, Smart and Clio 4.
At the moment, Revoz assembles Twingo 3, Clio 4, Smart Four Four and Smart Four Four EU.
Today's event for reporters was also attended by Renault Nissan Adriatic director general Jean-Pierre Mesić, who hailed Revoz's quality production and ability to adapt its production.