The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 200 million to SEVELNORD S.A. for the development of a new generation of multipurpose vehicles (MPVs) at Valenciennes-Hordain (Nord-Pas de Calais). Set up in 1989, SEVELNORD - Société Européenne de Vehicules Légers du Nord - is a jointly-owned subsidiary of the PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN and FIAT groups.
The project being financed, which will be fully operational by 2002, centres on design work, development, building of prototypes and testing of the new-generation MPVs intended to replace the current models in the Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat and Lancia ranges; it will cover both the passenger vehicle version and development of commercial counterparts. The project also encompasses production facility refurbishment and re-tooling at the Valenciennes-Hordain plant.
This financing is being provided as part of the EIB's activities aimed at fostering development of the Union's less prosperous regions and strengthening the competitiveness of European industry. It will assist two major groups within the European motor manufacturing industry in updating their range of MPVs for a highly competitive market place that will soon see new models of compact multipurpose vehicles being introduced by car-makers from both within and outside the European Union. Additionally, the project will enable Sevelnord, whose facilities are located in a priority European regional development area, to increase its workforce to 4 100 employees and to convert some 150 temporary jobs into permanent positions. As such, the project is receiving a grant of EUR 8 million from the European Structural Funds.
Over the past ten years, the EIB has been associated with a number of projects carried out by the PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN Group to maintain its industrial competitiveness, increase employment in its plants located in regional development areas and bring its production methods up to the highest environmental standards. Major examples of such support have been for installing water-based paint shops at Poissy, and for developing first-generation MPVs at Sevelnord near Valenciennes, V-6 engines and automatic gear boxes near Lens and medium-sized engines at Tremery near Metz.
As the European Union's long-term lending institution, the EIB deploys more than two thirds of its financing each year for projects located in regional development areas, and over the past five years it has committed in excess of EUR 60.7 billion for large-scale projects. During the same period it has also provided over EUR 5.7 billion to sharpen the competitive edge of European industry, including EUR 3.7 billion for the manufacture of transport equipment in the Union. In this context it has financed European projects by numerous motor-vehicle makers: PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN, Fiat, Opel/General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen/VAG, Seat and Toyota.
(1) EUR 1 = 0,6052 GBP, 6.55957 FRF