May 16 2012
Bosch invests in its French factories
The Citroen DS 5 of the newly elected president has not only brought joy to Peugeot-Citroen on Tuesday. The leaders of Bosch, which manufactures the electric motor and power electronics for PSA's hybrid vehicle, took pride in the choice of Francois Hollande. "Our site of Saint-Ouen is our global competence center in the area of hybrid vehicles," welcomed Maugis Guy, president of Bosch France.
The group is an industrial giant of the Rhine, which weighs 51.5 billion euros in turnover in 2011 and employs 300,000 employees. In the Hexagon, has 25 sites and employs 8,200 people. Last year, the French subsidiary has made EUR 3 billion in revenue, of which 1.3 billion were exported. The French activity was slightly higher (+3%), despite the difficulties of the automobile industry. "We are logically affected by the fall in the number of vehicles produced in France in recent years," says Guy Maugis.
Attractiveness of the site "France"
This growth at the global level as in the French branch, comes from new products marketed by the group. And development is made possible by the emphasis on research investments (4.6 billion globally) as in the industrial (3 billion euros). "In France, the group has invested over 350 million euros for the past five years to upgrade its industrial base," adds the French official.
These investments were made away from the controversy that surrounded the site of Venissieux, in the Rhone, in 2004. Bosch had then seen 35 to 36 hours working time in return for an investment of 20 million euros at the time for the manufacture of diesel injection pumps. "This agreement finally allowed to employ 500 people in our factory for seven years," Guy is justified Maugis.
Posing as the "Ambassador of France to the parent," the leader welcomes investment in recent years. Because the site "France" is in competition with all other countries where Bosch is represented. For Guy Maugis, if France is suffering comparisons in terms of labor costs, it benefits from the quality of its infrastructure, training and inventiveness. However, he regretted "the unpredictability of tax regulations and social situation" and the low visibility of social dialogue, sometimes "surprising and even confusing."
Social dialogue that can sometimes be successful. The site of Venissieux, again, was again converted. Today, part of the factory is specialized in the assembly of photovoltaic panels. "The plant is running close to capacity, although the sharp fall in prices in 2011 prevented for the time being profitable, explains Guy Maugis. However, we are confident of having the wherewithal to impose on us in this area. "
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