Renault Ending Era of Carmaking at French Plant Despite Pushback

Renault SA is pushing ahead with plans to cease vehicle production at a plant outside Paris despite union opposition and government pressure to keep manufacturing in France.

“We’re facing up to reality,” Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said Wednesday after meeting with labor representatives at the Flins plant that’s made 20 different models over almost 70 years. “We all know that the status quo is no longer possible. We need to reinvent Flins.”

The Flins factory, which makes the best-selling Zoe electric vehicle and the Nissan Micra, will transform by 2024 into a site to recycle and retrofit cars and batteries, Renault ...