Renault's South Korean Samsung Unit to Cut Jobs as it Tries to Tackle Falling Sales

It’s not only Europe that has Renault worried as the French automotive group is now having troubles in South Korea with its Samsung unit. 

Renault Samsung said on Friday that it would launch its first ever voluntary redundancy programme in order to deal with falling sales both in its home market and abroad. 

According to Reuters, while the automaker did not reveal how many jobs it wants to cut, a local media report made word of "hundreds" of positions. 

Renault Samsung said that 4,500 employees are eligible for the programme, while the company excluded about 1,000 design and research positions. 

"Conditions remain difficult, so we came up with revival measures including voluntary retirements to slash costs," a Renault Samsung spokeswoman told Reuters. 

From the beginning of the year through July, the South Korean automaker saw its overall sales drop 34 percent over the same period last year. 

Last month, Renault-Nissan Group CEO Carlos Ghosn revealed plans to invest US$160 million (€130 million) in Samsung to add 80,000 units of the next generation Nissan Rogue to its plant in Busan, Korea. These vehicles will be shipped to North America and select Asian countries.  

 

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2015 Chevrolet Camaro Coupe Design Study

There is a debate going on right now, as to whether Chevrolet designers should make the next Camaro coupe, expected to be introduced in 2015, look more like a first-generation model (1967-1969) or the second-generation version built from 1970 to 1981. 

But what if GM and Chevrolet were to take a different path and create something with very few, if any, retro touches? 

This is where 22-year-old automotive design graduate from Lawrence Tech in Michigan, Tyler Bame, steps into the picture. 

The young designer, who we first heard about back in April through a conceptual study for a new Ford Taurus sedan, has come up with a futuristic looking concept of the next Chevrolet Camaro coupe. 

We'll let you check the two renderings of the exterior and interior of the car before you hit the comments section to tell us what you think about the design. 

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