Renault-Nissan Alliance Accelerates Gender Diversity

DEAUVILLE, France, October 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

• Percentage of women employees, particularly those in manager-level positions, keeps increasing year over year 
• At Renault, 22% of global key positions are held by women; Nissan Japan has more than triple the national average percentage of women 
• Renault and Nissan launch new programs to recruit, retain and promote women--and to attract more female car buyers  

The Renault-Nissan Alliance, one of the world's largest car groups, continues to make progress in its commitment to closing the gender gap. The company launched numerous programs globally and particularly in the "home markets" to recruit, retain and advance women.

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The percentage of women employees at both Renault and Nissan has increased from a year ago, particularly in manager-level positions.

At Renault, women accounted for 18.4% of all employees globally in the most recent study, up from 17.6% in 2013 and up from 10% in 2000. Women accounted for 18.3% of Renault's manager-level positions globally in 2014, up from 17% in 2013. Women accounted for 22% of the company's 2,000 global "key positions," up from 19.6% in 2013.

Renault is a leader in the auto industry in terms of women at the most senior ranks. Two members of the 11-person executive committee are women: Mouna Sepehri, Executive Vice President of the Office of the CEO; and Marie-Françoise Damesin, Executive Vice President for Human Resources. Damesin is also Renault-Nissan Alliance Executive Vice President for Human Resources.

Renault aims to have women account for 30% of engineering or technical positions and 50% of sales positions worldwide by 2016. Renault also aims to have women account for 25% of its key global positions by next year.

At Nissan, women accounted for 11.7% of manager-level positions globally in fiscal year 2014, up from 10.6% in fiscal year 2013. In Japan, women at Nissan accounted for 8.2% of such positions, up from 7.1% in the previous year and more than 5 times higher than 2004.

Nissan remains an industry benchmark in its home market of Japan, with the percentage of its women managers more than triple the national average for large manufacturers. Nissan's goal is to have women represent 10% of managers in Japan and 14% of all management positions globally by 2017.

Renault-Nissan Alliance launches initiatives to close the global gender-gap 

2014 was an unprecedented year for new initiatives aimed at the recruitment, retention and advancement of women across Renault and Nissan, which together are responsible for one in 10 car sales globally:

• Renault became the first manufacturing company to sign a United Nations pledge to promote gender equality in Latin America, a key region for long-term growth. The goal of the UN's Women Empowerment Principles is to ensure human rights for women and to help women participate more fully in the economy, across all industrial sectors and levels of corporate hierarchy.
• Renault launched a women recruitment program in its Algerian factory that resulted in 350 new hires --40% of which were women. This makes the Renault plant in Oran one of the auto industry's best in the world for gender equity.
• Renault has a growing internal women network called Women@Renault which now counts more than 4500 members in key markets (Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, France, India, Korea, Morocco, Romania, Russia, Spain and Turkey).
• In 2014, Renault received the coveted "Label of Equality" from the Spanish government. The government particularly praised Renault for its "Women@Renault" internal support and career network.
• Nissan introduced an official mentoring program for women manager candidates in Japan. The program is available for female general managers and offers reinforcement on issues of leadership, strategy and career advancement.
• Nissan launched a workshop for young women engineers. The workshop, which is held twice a year, offers women advice on how to build a career before having children.
• Nissan continues to expand the "Ladies First" retail program in Japan. Ladies First dealerships are managed and staffed mostly by women. The dealership in the Tokyo suburb of Fuchu features stylish interiors, a nursing room and a spacious area where children can play and is aimed at making the shopping experience more welcoming to women and first-time buyers.
  • By the summer of 2015, Nissan had 151 Ladies First dealerships. Nissan plans to have 300 across Japan by the end of 2016. It is also considering expanding the program to overseas markets. Nissan will take lessons learned from the "Ladies First" project and apply it wherever applicable.
• Nissan is also boosting the percentage of women salespeople. Women represented 8.5% of salespeople in Japan in mid-2015, up from 7% at the end of 2014. Nissan aims for 10% by 2018.

Renault-Nissan focuses on mentoring at Women's Forum  

Renault and Nissan provide an update on gender progress and diversity every year in advance of the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society. This year's conference takes place Oct. 14-16 in Deauville, France. The annual gathering, which the Alliance has supported since 2006, aims to level the playing field for women in industry academia, politics and society.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance sends 50 top-performing women from around the world to the conference. This year, the car group will host a special session about mentoring for all internal delegates.

In addition, the Renault-Nissan Alliance will have three public speakers at this year's event.

• Oct. 14: Mouna Sepehri, Executive Vice-President Office of the CEO, will participate in the plenary session "How do you energize the World?" 
• Oct. 15: The Renault-Nissan Alliance will host a session on "Wellbeing and the car" with Sidonie Camplan, Studio Chief Designer, Colors and Material, Renault.
• Oct. 16: The Renault-Nissan Alliance will host a session on "Intrapreneurship, a new model" with Claire Martin, Vice-President Renault CSR, MD Renault Foundation and Alliance Renault-Nissan Leader for COP21.

For more information on Renault's diversity initiatives, go to: http://www.renault.com/en/groupe/developpement-durable/responsabilite-sociale-de-l-entreprise/pages/diversite.asp

For more information on Nissan's diversity initiatives, go to:

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/COMPANY/DIVERSITY

About the Renault-Nissan Alliance 

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is a strategic partnership between Paris-based Renault and Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan, which together sell one in 10 cars worldwide. The companies, which have been strategic partners since 1999, sold 8.4 million cars in nearly 200 countries in 2014. The Alliance also operates strategic collaborations with automakers including Germany's Daimler, China's Dongfeng, India's Ashok Leyland and Japan's Mitsubishi Motors. It also owns a majority stake in the joint venture that controls Russia's top automaker, AVTOVAZ.

http://www.media.renault.com

http://www.nissan-newsroom.com

blog.alliance-renault-nissan.com

Contacts:
Aline Henry
Renault-Nissan Alliance
+33(0)6-03-09-54-97
aline.henry@renault-nissan.com
 
Alejandra Kaufman
Renault SAS
+33(0)6-71-00-25-56
alejandra.kaufman@renault.com
 
Toshitake Inoshita
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
+81(0)45-523-5552
t-inoshita@mail.nissan.co.jp