Mouna Sepehri, executive vice-president of French automotive manufacturer Renault SA, said during a recent interview at the group’s headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt, west of Paris: “Size matters, because of economies of scale.”

Along with General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Annette Winkler — head of Daimler AG’s Smart brand — Ms Sepehri is among a handful of women to have made it to the top ranks of a male-dominated industry; she has been a key adviser to Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn since 2005.

The 53-year-old lawyer, who has specialised in mergers and acquisitions, said: “The consolidation trend will only accelerate, as car-makers seek to share the high costs of developing electric or energy-efficient vehicles and incorporate so-called intelligent technologies.

"In five to 10 years, we will have giant companies, but not just in the automotive industry; it’s a global phenomenon. Smaller companies will end up combining with bigger ones, except for those that have a niche market. Only a few regions in the world have been able to retain their automotive industry.”

Ms Sepehri helped Renault buy Romania’s Dacia in 1999 and South Korea’s Samsung Motors in 2000. She also contributed to the shaping of Renault’s partnership with Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. In 2010, she managed the negotiations of the alliance with Germany’s Daimler AG over a production partnership.

“What interested me was an industrial job, to roll up my sleeves. What I feared most was boredom, but that has never been the case over the 20 years I have spent at Renault.

“Exciting projects come up one after another. One must get in on the entire line, from conception to manufacturing. Even today, it remains one of the most complex industries, and I like that complexity.”