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HEALTH

France: Renault ‘fighting for survival’ due to coronavirus crisis

For automakers Renault and Nissan, the world is currently a very different place to what it had been just a few short months ago.

France: Renault 'fighting for survival' due to coronavirus crisis
France's Renault is fighting for survival. Photo: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP

In 2017 and 2018, the Franco-Japanese industrial alliance had ranked the world's biggest automaker with sales of 10.6 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.

But by the end of 2019, if the wheels have not quite come off, the two have nevertheless had a bumpy ride, after the man who oversaw that achievement, Carlos Ghosn, fled a trial in Japan over allegations of financial misconduct, and surfaced in Lebanon.

Digesting that scandal was one thing.

Coping with the economic mayhem wrought by the coronavirus pandemic was a task of a completely different dimension. Ghosn's expansion strategy of the past now appears to hail from a galaxy millions of light years away.

Today, the alliance is looking to cut back production capacity in view of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic as the two carmakers — which had previously accounted for some 10 percent of the global auto market — realign themselves to the new reality.

The outlook already looked bleak enough last year, after Renault recorded its first loss in a decade on sagging sales.

Then along came the novel coronavirus that all but paralysed the production line and sales points, particularly in Europe.

In the words of the French finance ministry, Renault is now “fighting for survival”. 

Cutting costs

Nissan too, in which Renault holds a 43-percent stake, is set to reveal heavy losses when it publishes its 2019/2020 results on Thursday.

Ghosn had been targeting sales of 14 million by 2022, including five million for Renault.

But that now looks ambitious. During the course of this week, the alliance will lift the veil on its strategic plans for the future.

Another member of the alliance, Mitsubishi Motors, one-third owned by Nissan, has similarly hit hard times and is is preparing to reveal its own plans in late July or early August.

Nissan sees its priorities as centred firmly on its core markets — Japan, China and North America, an informed source told AFP.

It is losing “a lot of money” in Europe.

That could spell danger for the Nissan factory at Barcelona, judged as being over-capacity, although the source indicated the future of the Sunderland plant in northeast England looks assured despite Brexit.

The name of the game is “cut fixed costs everywhere,” which means trimming production capacity from seven million units a year — two million more than current annual sales.

Japanese media reports say the group could slash its worldwide workforce by 15 percent by early 2023. 

Defending French jobs

At least the coronavirus shockwaves have pushed the Ghosn controversy off centre stage.

For Nissan, any negative feelings towards Renault and the French state in the wake of the Ghosn saga have been put aside “because the coronavirus is a much more important problem”, notes Tatsuo Yoshida, auto sector analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence.

“Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault don't have any time to lose if they want to survive this crisis,” he told AFP.

Renault needs to plot a route back into the black if it is to keep the French government onside amid concern over the potential direct or indirect fallout from the virus on jobs.

With Paris voicing fears that Renault could disappear without state support — France retains a 15-percent stake in the carmaker — the government is set to approve a five-billion-euro ($5.4 billion) loan package, although environmental strings will be attached.

Paris will also want guarantees on keeping maximum production within France — several models are currently produced in lower-cost countries abroad, such as the Clio in Turkey.

Responding to media reports of possible closures in France, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe warned last week that the government would be “intransigent” on the issue of keeping production on home soil.

But the challenge is a sizeable one. Renault said in February, before the pandemic really took hold, that it was targeting two billion euros in savings over three years and would not rule out site closures.

Or, as interim CEO and former financial officer Clotilde Delbos put it: “No taboos.”

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HEALTH

How serious is the threat from dengue fever in France?

As tiger mosquitoes are now present in over 80 percent of mainland France, health authorities are worried that local transmission of tropical diseases, like dengue fever, will increase.

How serious is the threat from dengue fever in France?

As of January 2024, tiger mosquitoes – known for their ability to carry diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus – had been detected in 78 of France’s 96 mainland départements, including the Paris region.

This has left public health authorities concerned about the spread of dengue fever in France, particularly this summer as large crowds are expected amid the Olympic Games.

READ MORE: MAP: Tiger mosquitoes reach northern France

How common is dengue fever in France?

In the first four months of 2024, 1,679 cases of dengue fever were identified in mainland France, a number that is 13 times higher than the same period last year, Le Parisien reported.

Crucially, however, none of these are believed to have been contracted in mainland France – they were all reported among patients who had recently travelled from the tropical regions where dengue fever is common.

The majority of cases were from people who had visited the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe – where the disease is endemic.

These islands are for administrative purposes part of France – so often show up in French health data – but they are roughly 7,000km away from Paris.

So far, there have not been any indigenous cases (autochtone – or people infected on mainland French soil) yet this year.

Local transmission of the disease remains relatively rare. In 2023, nine separate outbreaks of indigenous dengue transmission were identified, one of which occurred in the Paris region. These led to 45 cases of local transmission (in mainland France).

Most were in southern France – in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions – though one outbreak occurred in the Paris region, according to French public health authorities.

This is less than 2022, which was a notable year with 66 total cases of indigenous dengue fever were recorded. In comparison, between 2010 and 2021, only 48 cases (total) were recorded.

What to expect for 2024

Experts believe that the number of cases in France, including indigenous ones, will grow this year, as tiger mosquitoes now occupy more territory in mainland France.

On top of that, the number of cases has increased significantly in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“What we see in France is a mirror image of what is happening in the French Caribbean, and more widely in Latin America and the rest of the Caribbean, where dengue fever has been circulating since the start of the year at unprecedented levels”, the head of Santé Publique France, Dr Caroline Semaille, said during a press conference.

The Olympic Games will also bring an influx of tourists from all over the world, and weather conditions are expected to be conducive to mosquitoes – a year with a lot of rainfall, and potentially high temperatures. 

What is dengue fever?

The disease is spread to people from bites by infected mosquitoes.

The most common symptoms are high fever, chills, abdominal, joint and muscle pains, and vomiting. It can also cause a skin rash that resembles measles, according to France’s Institut Pasteur.

Symptoms usually begin three to 14 days (with an average of four to seven) after being bitten.

However people are asymptomatic in 50 to 90 percent of cases (depending on the epidemic), which can make monitoring difficult.

At-risk groups include the immunocompromised, children and the elderly, who are more likely to suffer from severe forms of the disease.

Deaths from the disease are very rare, occurring in around 0.01 percent of all cases, almost all in countries that have poor healthcare systems.

How can I avoid tiger mosquitoes?

Female tiger mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, and they can lay several hundred eggs at once. Therefore try to avoid having any standing water outside your home and be aware of the items that might collect rainwater.

This includes regularly emptying vases, flower pots, as well as watering cans and pots. If you want to collect rainwater, you could cover water butts with mosquito nets or fabric to keep the mosquitoes from getting inside.

READ ALSO 5 plants that (allegedly) repel mosquitoes

You can also keep your gutters clean – this helps to keep the water flowing when it rains, and it avoids any stagnant pools from building up.

To protect yourself, try to wear long, loose and light-coloured clothing, in addition to insect repellent. You might also consider wearing a mosquito net head gear.

The main difference between tiger mosquitoes and other species would be getting a bite during the day, and the fact that tiger mosquitoes are likely to bite several times. You can tell for sure if it was a tiger mosquito by seeing the insect itself. They are also silent.

There is no immediate cause for alarm if you are bitten, in almost all cases the bites are just itchy and annoying. In very rare cases, tropical diseases can be spread by the mosquitoes – seek medical help if you develop a high fever and rash.

READ MORE: How to prevent the spread of tiger mosquitoes in France

What do tiger mosquitoes look like?

They are very small, about 5 mm, and they have a highly contrasting colour, with black and white stripes on their body and legs.

If you believe you have spotted a tiger mosquito, you can report it to public health authorities online.

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