Fourmont ready to say goodbye to Logan after a six-year stint at Dacia

Francois Fourmont, the Frenchman under whose management Logan became Europe’s low-cost miracle, is set to leave Renault group’s most profitable car plant.
Six years after Francois Fourmont arrived in Romania, Dacia leads in terms of sales on the Romanian market, but, more importantly, as Ion Tiriac, one of the most important Romanian businesspeople, said, the model manufactured in Mioveni gained not only renown, but also prestige in Europe.
Fourmont, 61, arrived in Pitesti in mid-2003 and took over the Logan project coordinated until then by Christian Esteve, the first manager after the 1999 privatisation. In 2003, Dacia posted 93m-euro losses. The next year brought losses as well, but in 2005, 12 months after Logan model was launched, the company reported 57m-euro income, the first positive result in eight years.
” (…) Mr. Fourmont had a very good performance and the one to succeed him will have an easier task, to maintain the level and coordinate the team,” stated Constantin Stroe, vice-president of the carmaker.
A doctor of economic science, Fourmont came into contact with Dacia as early as 1999, when he ran Auto Chassis International, the chassis unit of Renault. However, his career with Renault started in 1974, and he filled several positions with the HR Department. How was the passage from the position of HR manager to that of plant manager?
“It was a major change. It was an interesting challenge as I lacked the necessary technical culture for this position. (…) It took me several months to learn everything I had to learn,” stated Fourmont one year and a half ago.
Automobile Dacia representatives stated the position of administrator and general manager of the Mioveni plant would be taken over by Jerome Olivier, 52, a Frenchman now running Renault’s plant of Douai, France, at the end of the year.
“I am convinced now, when Mr. Fourmont is retiring, that Dacia’s performance during his tenure was outstanding. It was a fortunate period,” stated Marius Carp, a car industry analyst.
During Fourmont’s tenure, Renault invested more than 800m euros in Romania. Fourmont arrived at Dacia a year before Logan’s launch and leaves the future manager to complete the current Logan generation with the launch of the SUV.