Renault Spain Hires 1,000 to Meet Kadjar CUV Demand

MADRID – Renault hires 1,000 new workers at its Vallamuriel de Cerratos plant for a third shift for assembly of the recently introduced Kadjar CUV.

The third shift ramps up Sept. 21 and will raise employment at the plant located near Palencia, 160 miles (260 km) north of Madrid, to 4,100. It is the first time since 2011 the facility has run on three shifts.

Renault launched assembly of the Kadjar, its first C-segment CUV, in April and is exporting it to 40 countries. Current daily output is 450 units on each of two shifts.

Two of the Kadjar’s available engines are manufactured at the Renault plant in Valladolid, 30 miles (50 km) from Palencia, and two of the transmission options are produced at a factory in Seville, 330 miles (530 km) southwest of Madrid.

The Palencia plant also assembles the Megane III on one line. That model will be discontinued at the end of 2015 and replaced by the Renault Megane IV unveiled at this week’s Frankfurt auto show.

Pre-production units of the fourth-generation Megane IV are being assembled at the plant, with builds launching in early 2016.