Groupe PSA has made several announcements concerning its European manufacturing operations in the area of powertrains and transmissions. It says the measures announced will improve its competitive position.
The measures cover three areas of European operations:
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
- PSA said it is improving the performance of powertrain plants to ‘fulfil orders for future Opel/Vauxhall models based on PSA platforms’.
- It is preparing manufacturing facilities for the ICE energy mix transition as well as the electrification push.
- It is localising automatic gearbox production to meet shifting customer demand (tie-up with Aisin).
PSA said the changes will increase the agility of its manufacturing base by producing components as close as possible to car plants and take into account technological and energy shifts.
These changes are also an opportunity to adjust production capacity for group engines as the manufacture of Opel/Vauxhall models is gradually ramped up on PSA Group platforms and fitted with PSA powertrains and technologies.
The detail shows three main adjustments:
- Increased production of the 3-cylinder Turbo PureTech petrol engine as close as possible to car plants. In addition to doubling production capacity in France, compared to 2016, already in progress in Douvrin and Tremery plants, the group will be producing PureTech engines in Tichy (Poland) and Szentgotthárd (Hungary) from 2019 onwards.
- Increase production of gearboxes from 2019 with the manufacture under license of automatic gearbox in Valenciennes (France), set to reach full potential by 2020, thanks to a strategic partnership signed with AISIN AW. Until now, this component has been manufactured in Japan and China. The group will also invest to produce additional volumes of manual ML gearboxes in Metz-Borny (France) and MB6 gearboxes in Aspern (Austria), in particular to equip its high-end and light commercial vehicles and serve growing needs driven by production of Opel/Vauxhall cars.
- Prepare the Tremery plant (France) to produce electrical motors from 2019 onwards, before acceleration from 2021 onwards, thanks to the joint venture signed with Nidec. They will support the electrification push, as 100% of the group’s vehicle range will include an electrified offering by 2025.
Yann Vincent, Executive Vice- President, Manufacturing and Supply Chain, said: “What will make the difference will be our agility to prepare our manufacturing base to produce components that meet customer needs and respond to the energy shift, creating the conditions for a sustainable future through enhanced performance. PSA Group’s 15 component production plants in Europe, located in France, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Poland, are eager to propose the best quality and performance to our customers.”
See also: PSA invests in France for auto-boxes made under Aisin licence
Opel supply chain command to be separate – PSA
PSA confident of supply chain ahead of huge launches – component chief
PSA supply chain is “orchestra” in carmaking – component chief
