It is a company in the automotive sector which seems not to be experiencing the crisis, and this is rare enough to be highlighted. Near Rennes, the Japanese equipment manufacturer Sanden has just invested 68 million euros in a new production line. The company’s bet is innovation and change in the sector. It will produce a new generation of compressors for electric cars.
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The Sanden factory in Tinténiac is the subject of all attention. A company based in Tinténiac, between Rennes and Saint-Malo, since 1995. With its 541 employees and especially its brand new production line, it embodies hope in Brittany, in a sector that is going badly. That of the automobile.
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The 80 machines on the new line will manufacture new generation compressors at the end of the year, an essential part for cooling the batteries of electric cars, but also for regulating the temperature of the passenger compartment. “For now, we are starting with two models during 2025, and next year, I think we should launch six to seven more,” indicates a factory executive.
An investment of 68 million euros financed by the Chinese shareholder Hisense and by the French State, to the tune of 11 million euros.
-The Brittany region will invest, for its part, 200,000 euros in training employees, in order to support them in the change in technology.
“What we need is that tomorrow, when electric vehicles will gradually take over, we keep a factory in Tinténiac, in Brittany, which manufactures the compressors of tomorrow, assures Loïg Chesnais-Girard, the President of the Region. When there are these changes in technology, there are risks. We must all stand alongside the managers, workers, engineers who work here.” continues the chosen one.
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As a reminder, the Tinténiac company had a departure plan in 2021 and 120 employees had to leave the factory at that time. With this cutting-edge investment, Sanden management is banking on the longer-term future. “We know that we are in a difficult context in terms of automobiles, manufacturers, and in particular our customers Volkswagen and Stellantis, are going through periods of uncertainty, observes Bertrand Lefevre, President of Sanden Manufacturing Europe, and periods of reduced activity. We are not going to lie to ourselves by saying that we too do not go through these difficulties. An investment like this is simply a guarantee that our shareholders are counting on us, that they have decided to bet on the Tinténiac site.”
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30,000 compressors for electric cars should leave the Breton factory this year, the only one in the group to manufacture them. A group present in 21 countries. The sign is very positive for the site. Ultimately, and depending on orders, this new line could produce a million.
(With Sylvaine Salliou)
