With the crisis in the automobile industry, Aveyron fears industrial hemorrhage

An industrial emblem of the Aveyron economy, Bosch is preparing to face the shift in the automotive sector with apprehension. Until recently, the industrial site manufactured injectors for diesel engines, notably for the manufacturer PSA (Peugeot Citroën). But following the diesel gate and the disuse of these engines, the Ruthenian site had to find new industrial loads. However, no truly lasting solution has come to reassure the 700 employees at the Rodez site in 2024.

A site that Emmanuel Macron, then Minister of the Economy, visited in 2016 to promote… diesel! Since then, the European Union has decided to ban the sale of thermal engines by 2035. “The European Commission is imposing on the entire sector a forced transition without consultation and especially without an impact study. This lack of awareness will cause a cataclysm in the auto sector with tens of thousands of jobs threatened” alarms Jean-Louis Chauzy.

The fuel cell project at a standstill

The president of Ceser Occitanie fears the downward slope for the Bosch site which employed 2,000 employees at the beginning of the 2000s (+ 400 fixed-term contracts). According to projections, there will be only 512 left in 2030. Job losses in addition to those of the SAM foundry, now closed. Even if the industrial site was bought by the Occitanie region, no buyer has raised a finger to restart an activity. As for Bosch Rodez, the track for the “FresH2” fuel cell project initiated in 2021 for refrigerated trucks was suspended due to lack of orders. The German group had however reserved the exclusivity for the production of this innovative product in Rodez.

“We need Minister Ferracci”

The unions had accepted 750 job cuts in the hope of this new production. “Today, we need Minister Ferracci to win new products for the Rodez factory” pleads Jean-Louis Chauzy. One of the avenues would be the Estonian Skeleton which announced that it had chosen Toulouse to set up an R & D center to develop these high-power batteries by the end of 2024. The ambition is then to open a production plant for this “SuperBattery” within a one-hour radius of the Pink City. “Rodez is a little further away but has the enormous advantage of a qualified workforce available on an industrial site” defends the president of Ceser.

While the regions and the State are mobilizing for the reindustrialization of the country, the threat to the automobile industry risks ruining years of effort while France reopened factories. “We must stop the bleeding now because the arrival of Trump is not good news for the European automobile industry” warns Jean-Louis Chauzy. As for SAM, the foundry site could address new markets such as rail or aeronautics. One more file for the minister!