Five Volvo Car Ghent suppliers uncertain about 2017

Five Volvo Car Ghent suppliers uncertain about 2017

Five suppliers for the Ghent Volvo factory are unsure whether the company will continue to use them when the new production platform “Compact Modular Architecture” (CMA) is up and running in 2017. The workers are left uncertain about the future, the Worker’s union ABVV Metaal said on Saturday.

In 2017, production of the V60 and V60 Cross Country models will be moved to Sweden, which will also get a new platform (for big models). The Ghent factory will progressively concentrate on more compact models.

ABVV say 3 of the 9 sub-contractors have already had confirmation that they will provide parts for the XC40, the first model to come out of the future CMA platform. These suppliers are Brose, Plastal and Johnson Controls Seating. A fourth sub-contractor, MC Syncro, currently produces for all the models made in the Swedish and Ghent factories, so its contract is not tied to particular models.

Five other suppliers, Benteler, Faurecia, SAS, Tenneco and Tower, have received no information to date. These companies employ over a thousand people full-time, the metal worker’s Union said.

The Volvo Car Ghent spokesman explained that the sub-contractor’s agreements are renegotiated by the Swedish purchasing management. “As the production system is being completely transformed, the logistics process should also be re-examined”, he said. 

(Source: Belga)


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