"We can talk about the end of heat engines or the lack of semiconductors, it is a strategy of financial profitability through relocations, started a long time ago, which is successful," Nourredine Lakehal, FO union representative, told AFP. of the Mahle de Chavanod factory, near Annecy, which will close.

The thermal engine parts produced by this site with 108 employees, in particular for Peugeot, are now manufactured in Slovakia.

"The trend is to transfer to Eastern Europe and China. And it's methodical. Land has been bought in Slovakia, we have trained our Slovak colleagues, who are paid four times less than us, then machines have arrived there and volumes have been transferred. In five years, our turnover has fallen from 31 to 14 million euros. And now, it's the closure, "says Mr. Lakehal.

"We will not escape the ecological transition. But instead of seizing the opportunity to relocate, the exact opposite is happening with subcontractors," adds Valentin Rodriguez, in charge of automotive suppliers at FO.

Workforce reductions in automotive subcontractors Valentin RAKOVSKY AFP

Since mid-November, in addition to Mahle, another German equipment manufacturer, Benteler, has announced a plant closure in Migennes (Yonne, 400 employees).

Earlier in the year, the American BorgWarner had closed that of Eyrein (Corrèze, 368 employees) and a plan to cut 143 jobs is underway in Blois (Loir-et-Cher).

Bosch will cut 750 jobs in Rodez in Aveyron, where the SAM foundry in Viviers (350 employees) is in liquidation, dropped by its customer Renault, after the closures this year of MBF Aluminum in Saint-Claude (Jura, 260 employees) and of the Fonderie du Poitou Fonte in Ingrandes (Vienne, 288 employees).

The firm Trendeo counted a total of 2,865 net job cuts in automotive subcontractors in France in 2021.

Relocations despite the "billions received"

Purchases are transferred abroad: Chavanod in Slovakia, Eyrein in Hungary, Ingrandes in Turkey, Migennes in Spain, Viviers in Romania ...

The unions implicate Renault and Stellantis (ex-PSA), which themselves initiated the process by relocating in the mid-2000s. "The logic has since extended to the entire auto industry", summarizes Fabien Gâche , former central CGT union delegate from Renault.

Asked by AFP, Stellantis explains managing its costs by "a global approach" with its "100 factories located in 30 countries".

And highlights its investments to "relocate 40% of the value of electric vehicles with the manufacture of batteries which will begin in Douvrin in less than two years".

Renault also insists on the energy transition, like its managing director Luca de Meo, who for SAM spoke of a "systemic problem" linked to the "switch to electric".

However, parts for heat engines relocated outside France "are mature products, but not yet expired. There is demand for years," said Mr. Lakehal.

The decline of the automotive industry in France Valentin RAKOVSKY AFP

And at Migennes, the energy transition is not in question, since Benteler mainly produces chassis and other structural elements there.

For the unions, it is by relocating their purchases that the manufacturers are pushing the large equipment manufacturers from France and condemning the foundries.

Migennes workers are thus suspended from a possible order for the Peugeot 3008 and 5008, explains Abdel Nassour, FO delegate.

If the prospective buyer, Mutares, wins it, it could avoid the closure.

But nothing is less certain.

"French manufacturers must come to their senses and buy in France!" He says.

Especially since the employment pool is "very precarious" and more than 60 couples work at Benteler, like Régis Lemaitre and his wife.

"We are talking about reindustrialisation for the sake of good weather, but our customers, Stellantis and Renault, who have received billions, continue to relocate," he laments.

"Today the State is aware, I believe, of the drama which is being played out in Migennes, but does it have power over Stellantis?" Asks Mr. Nassour.

"When we distribute money, we must put conditions. Otherwise, the money ends up in the pockets of the shareholders."

© 2021 AFP