Mariano Rajoy says Government of Spain will continue supporting automotive sector

Villamuriel de Cerrato, Palencia

The President of the Government recognised the importance of this sector for the economy and employment as it generates direct and indirect jobs, "both in the manufacturing of motor vehicles and their components".

He also said that Spain is the second-leading country in Europe in terms of vehicle production and ninth in the world, and that the sale of motor vehicles has increased for the last 18 months straight. In his opinion, the sensible move would be to continue supporting the sector as the Government of Spain has already been doing via the successive plans it has implemented, such as the Efficient Vehicle Promotion Plan (PIVE) (now in its seventh edition), the Environment Promotion Plan (PIMA) and other incentives for renewing the fleet of vehicles on Spain's roads.

He went on to say that, during a period of "enormous economic complexity" for Spain, it was one of the first sectors to contribute to the recovery. Mariano Rajoy recalled that during his previous visit to the factory in Villamuriel de Cerrato, in November 2012, he was asked "when we were going to ask for a bail-out because we were having so much difficulty in financing ourselves and where our risk premium stood".

As opposed to the recession, lack of competitiveness and constant increase in unemployment at that time, the Spanish economy today is growing and creating jobs, and "2015 will be better than 2014", he said.

The President of the Government believes that jobs should be the "national objective" because, besides what they mean for each person who finds a job, "they mean more revenue for the public administration and hence better public services".

Committed to Spain

Pool MoncloaMariano Rajoy said that the Renault group has been operating in Spain for over 60 years and that the two have "grown together" to become a world leader in the automotive sector and a European powerhouse, respectively. Furthermore, he is convinced that this "understanding" will be maintained into the future, as demonstrated by the new all-terrain model that the company will start to manufacture on the production lines in Palencia.

The President of the Government stressed that this is another wise decision that follows on from the 2014-2016 Renault Industrial Plan.

He said it is good for Palencia "because, besides consolidating this factory, it sends a message of future stability and will create jobs". It will also benefit Castile-Leon because 20% of the vehicles manufactured in Spain are produced in this region. "The sector accounts for 38% of all exports from the region and 75% of exports from the province of Palencia. We are talking about nearly 25% of the region's industrial GDP", he concluded.