Renault Tehnologie Roumanie (RTR), the domestic engineering centre set up by the French carmaker, will have the first car designed entirely by Romanian engineers ready for manufacturing in 2010, reports zf.

"We will probably have a car designed by Romanian engineers in 2010. However, even when the vehicle is being manufactured in Romania, the French parent centre will continue to oversee the project," said Constantin Stroe (photo), vice-president of Automobile Dacia.

He added that certain car subassemblies were already being developed in Romania, but that they were still waiting for the final approval from Renault's main engineering centre. Renault Tehnologie Roumanie, whose location has been planned for Titu, Dambovita county with announced investments of 456 million euros, currently has a team of 670 engineers.

They are currently working in the North Gate office centre, developed by Creativ Global Property, in the Pipera area of the Capital. "In 2009, the first teams will be transferred from North Gate to Titu.

Currently, we are investing very little in development, as we are still at the stage of securing approvals. We expect the first bulldozer to start work on the Titu site in the second half of the fourth quarter," said Stroe. The Renault engineering centre rented approximately 16,000 square metres of class A offices in the North Gate project.

The rent for one square metre of office space, within the centre, ranges from 18 to 20 euros. According to company representatives, the core team of the Renault engineering centre was set up via the transfer of around 150 people from the Engineering Department at Automobile Dacia.