It had been a long time since we had seen such an investment in cars in France. Toyota will invest 400 million euros in its Onnaing plant, near Valenciennes, to allow the site to host the new platform of the manufacturer (the “New Global Platform Architecture”) and a new vehicle in addition to the Yaris.
The news will be announced in the day of Monday, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron. The President of the Republic will welcome the creation of hundreds of jobs – almost 700. At this moment, the site has 4,000 employees, of which a little over 3,000 on permanent contracts. The workforce is expected to rise above 5,000 by 2020. A central works council is scheduled for Monday morning. Contacted, Toyota did not wish to comment.
In details
The extraordinary works council announced on Monday that it has read the press release issued by the plant’s director, Luciano Biondo. This one details the investments on the site. Thus, 300 million euros will be devoted to new equipment while 100 million euros will be dedicated to training.
As for jobs, at least 300 permanent employees will be hired (excluding turnover) by the end of 2019. In addition, it is announced the hiring of 400 additional CDIs in full production capacity.
New company agreement
Toyota Valenciennes should soon be able to assemble on the spot some 300,000 cars per year, against about 230,000 in 2017. At the end of July, the site management had signed a new company agreement with four trade unions (CFDT, FO, CFE-CGC and CFTC) offering increased flexibility of schedules in return for hiring and training.
In doing so, Toyota takes the opposite of the current trend in the automotive industry: for ten years, PSA and Renault reduce the sails of their French factories, often from two to a single assembly line – although used at full diet. With 5,000 employees, Onnaing will be as big as its neighbor Renault Douai, the biggest factory of Losange. In contrast, most of PSA’s hexagonal plants employ more than 5,000 people – Sochaux being at the top of the pile with nearly 10,000 employees.
The choice of Toyota is also linked to the activism of the region Hauts-de-France: its president, Xavier Bertrand, said it would put 11 million euros in the project of the Japanese manufacturer, the community of agglomeration Valenciennes Metropolis must also contribute to financing investment.