The automotive industry enjoys a healthy recovery in Nord-Pas de Calais

The Japanese car manufacturer is riding high

Toyota: the Yaris III is reconquering the market

After the financial crisis of 2008 and the end of the government’s car scrapping incentive scheme in 2010, Toyota is gaining momentum with the arrival of the Yaris III. Produced exclusively at the Onnaing plant (near Valenciennes) for all of Europe, the Yaris III represents high hopes for the Japanese manufacturer. In Europe, Toyota is planning to sell 200,000 vehicles and will produce 1,090 to 1,150 cars a day thanks to the arrival of a third team from 2012 representing the hire of 800 extra temporary workers. “We haven’t been at full capacity since 2007. This is a great breath of fresh air for the plant and a fantastic boost for the site,” explains François Papin, Vice-Chairman of the Onnaing plant.

Toyotomi Europe will create 120 jobs in three years

A subsidiary of the Japanese company Toyotomi Kiko (49% belonging to Toyota) that joined Escaut Business Park in Onnaing in 2005, Toyotomi Europe will double its staff over the three coming years. The equipment manufacturer is planning on recruiting 120 extra employees for the series manufacture of original structural parts for the new Yaris III made by Toyota at Onnaing. This project has mobilised over 30 million euros and marks a major strategic change for Toyotomi Europe which will become a top level equipment supplier for its prestigious neighbour Toyota Motor Manufacturing France.

Toyota Boshoku Somain will soon be inaugurating its Somain plant

In 2010, the automotive equipment manufacturer Toyota Boshoku invested 40 million euros in its Somain plant (near Douai) for manufacturing seats, interior roofs and engine air filters as well as for passenger cells of the new Yaris. All of the staff (219 people) have been reemployed and the project will involve the recruitment of fifty others. The challenge for this new plant is two-fold for Toyota Boshoku. First, they will supply parts to Toyota’s Valenciennes plant. And secondly, they must make Somain a foothold for Boshoku in Europe, a continent where they have little presence despite the company’s position as one of the ten largest equipment manufacturers in the world. The inauguration of the Somain plant is planned for the end of the year.

New investment for Toyota Boshoku France in Onnaing

Alongside their plastics activity manufacturing replacement bumper models at Onnaing (near Valenciennes), Toyota Boshoku France has made a large investment with the launch of two new operations at its site: the series production of new door and boot trim parts. The investment stands at €635,000 and will require the creation of a night shift with the recruitment of 20 extra people.

French manufacturers are not left behind

Renault: a new strategy

For Renault’s plant in Douai, business has also been particularly slow since 2008. But this trend should change in the mid-term. The plant had planned to assemble 170,000 vehicles and is now targeting 400,000 by 2014. Renault’s strategy for the Douai plant is to focus on mid and high-end products. Douai will be responsible in Europe for the so-called “platform 15-40” project shared with Nissan and dedicated to models between €15,000 and €40,000. The Laguna 4, the Espace 5, the Scénic and the Mégane Coupé Cabriolet are a few of the cars to be made. In early September, Renault’s MCA industrial site (Maubeuge Construction Automobile) launched the first series manufacture of the electric Kangoo at Maubeuge in the presence of Calors Ghosn, Renault CEO and also Eric Besson, French Minister for Industry. This was a first for the car industry because Renault is the only manufacturer to sell an electric vehicle with no capacity limit. MCA employed 98 extra staff to commercialise the ZE (zero emission) from November starting at €15,000 ex. VAT. More good news, Carlos Ghosn confirmed production in Maubeuge of a Daimler (Mercedes) van by end 2012 and a new Kangoo production phase early 2013, extending from 140,000 models in 2010 to 165,000 in two years.

20 new jobs for STA (Société de transmission automatiques)

The Société de Transmission Automatiques is celebrating its 40^th birthday this year and will recruit 20 new technicians by the end of 2011. “An extra asset to successfully meet the rhythm of volumes, accompanying the increase of automatic gearbox deliveries for emerging markets,” explains Javier Bernaldez, the site’s General Director. Other good news for this company in the Renault group: the automatic 4x4 gearbox manufacture that was halted in early summer was relaunched a few days ago.

PSA Peugeot Citroën: significant investments

By 2014, the car manufacturer is planning on investing nearly €220M in its Valenciennes plant for the production of a new 7-speed double-clutch gear box, an investment which means 400 extra jobs and a production capacity of 400,000 units per year. The Valenciennes gearbox R&D centre will also recruit. Currently employing around fifty engineers and technicians, numbers may increase to 110 within two years.

By 2013, PSA Peugeot Citroën will invest 175 million euros in its Française de Mécanique plant in Douvrin (near Béthune) for the production of a new 3-cylinder turbo petrol engine. Its series launch is planned for early 2013 with a capacity for 320,000 engines per year.

Agrati: new head office in Vieux-Condé, near Valenciennes

Antoine Lopez, Chief Executive Officer of Agrati, has decided to move the company’s head office to the Vieux-Condé site (near Valenciennes). Since the purchase of the site in March 2010, €40 million has been invested. Currently 300 people are working there. Agrati specialises in screws for the automotive industry. The Vieux-Condé site produces around fifty types of safety screw for PSA, Renault, Ford and Volvo. The site produced 400,000 screws a day before the purchase. Last September, production had risen to a million. The objective for the end of the year is to produce 1.2 million. The new logistics platform (10,000m² and 80 people), operational since early September, will be inaugurated in the near future. This platform receives and packs screws from Vieux-Condé and also from Fourmies and Amiens (up to a thousand different references).

Lavoixeco.fr – Les échos – Le Monde – L’usine nouvelle

October 2011