The CEO of Renault Group Iberia, Josep Maria Recasens, was elected on Friday as the new chairman of Anfac, replacing Wayne Griffiths (Seat Cupra). As the automotive employers’ association pointed out in a statement, the challenge from now on is to drive and consolidate the industrial transformation and promote the electric car sector and sustainable mobility. Griffiths, who resigned last June in disappointment with the Spanish government’s inaction on electrification, has led the manufacturers’ association for the past two and a half years.
Recasens, who will lead the employers for the next two years, was confirmed at an extraordinary session of the association’s Board of Directors and General Assembly held today. According to Anfac, he takes over at a “decisive” moment for the sector’s transformation towards sustainable, carbon-free mobility, based on the electrification and digitalization of the automotive industry.
“Spain is an industrial benchmark, being the second largest manufacturer in Europe and the eighth largest in the world, and is facing a complex transformation scenario where ensuring the competitiveness of our industry is fundamental for the country’s economy. The automotive sector faces major challenges linked to the necessary boost to the electric vehicle market, the development of recharging infrastructure and industrial transformation,” the employer pointed out.
“We must ensure that the electric car becomes a means of generating value and technology for this country. Moreover, we must do it quickly because if we do not miss the train, other countries will occupy this space.” Likewise, he pointed out that Spain has “all the ingredients” to be a “European technological power” because the historical competitive disadvantage with the countries of the East is disappearing, both at the expense of labor and in the cost of energy.
Josep Maria Recasens’s career has always been linked to the automotive sector. The new president of Anfac is an engineer from the University of Girona, holds a Master’s in Automotive Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and an MBA from ESADE Business School. He began his career in 2002 at Seat, where he held positions such as Strategy Director, Company Secretary and Director of Public Affairs. Recasens joined Renault in July 2021.
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