Turkish Prime Ministry rules out Renault as service cars

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

An employee of the French car manufacturer Renault working on an assembly line at a plant in Douai, northern France. The French carmaker’s local partner Oyak-Renault is considers boosting investments to broaden its portfolio. AFP photo

The Turkish Prime Ministry has ruled out the French automobile maker Renault’s Latitude for its civil servants following the passage of the “Armenian Genocide Bill” in the French senate, according to the daily HaberTürk.

Akmercan, a firm which had won the tender of the renewal of the rental cars in service for the public servants who work for the Prime Ministry, was planning to purchase 130 Latitude’s. But the firm opted for the Mondeo after the Prime Ministry asked Akmercan not to buy Renault.

The fleet will be renewed gradually and 20 Mondeo cars were purchased in the first phase, the HaberTürk said.

Also a Renault Fluence Z.E. electric car, a gift to be presented to the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is on hold as the Prime Ministry has not issued an approval. The Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology has also suspended an order of 10 Renault electric cars.

All these decisions were taken before a sufficient number of senators challenged the bill in the Constitutional Council, the paper reported. Turkish government declared to announce sanctions against France once the judgment is delivered.

The so called “Armenian Genocide Bill” criminalizes denials of the 1915 events as genocide. French parliament had previously passed a resolution, which purports that the killing of Armenians in 1915 at the end of the Ottoman Empire qualifies as genocide.

Renault may invest in Turkey

Meanwhile Renault’s Turkish unit, which makes seven models of passenger cars, may consider van production, said Tarık Tunalıoğlu, chief executive of the joint venture Oyak-Renault Otomobil Fabrikalari, at a press conference, according to Bloomberg.

“There are good examples in Turkey for the production of light commercial vehicles, such as Ford and Tofas,” Tunalioğlu said in an interview in Istanbul today. “So we may consider that.”

Renault Group, consisted of Renault and Dacia automobile brands, became a market leader with a 13.8 percent share last year selling 140,827 vehicles, according to a company press release. Renault maintained its market leadership in private cars for the thirteenth time, the press release said.