TOMORROWS TRANSPORTATION NEWS TODAY!

Tag: competitiveness

Airbus Atlantic Launches, Creating a New Global Player for Aero Structures

Toulouse, France January 2022 – A wholly-owned Airbus subsidiary, Airbus Atlantic, a global player in the aerostructures field, was officially established on 1st January 2022. The new company groups the strengths, resources and skills of the Airbus (OTC: EADSY) sites in Nantes and Montoir-de-Bretagne, the central functions associated with their activities, as well as the STELIA Aerospace sites worldwide.

This unification is part of the transformation project announced in April 2021, aimed at strengthening the value chain of aerostructure assembly within Airbus’s industrial setup, this activity being considered as core business. It marks the intention to gain competitiveness, innovation and quality for the benefit of Airbus’s programmes of today and tomorrow.

As such, Airbus Atlantic will be an essential element in the group’s value chain and will play a key role with regard to the aerostructure supply chain, with more than 500 direct suppliers (flying products) and more than 2,000 indirect suppliers (general procurement products).

With 13,000 staff in 5 countries and 3 continents, and an estimated business volume of around 3.5 Bn euros, Airbus Atlantic is the world number two for aerostructures, world number one for pilot seats and ranks in the top three for Business Class and First Class passenger seats, which continue to be marketed under the STELIA Aerospace brand.

Toyota to Move Tacoma Truck Production to Mexico from U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp <TM> said on Friday it will move production of its mid-size Tacoma pick-up truck from the United States to Mexico as it adjusts production around North America.

The largest Japanese automaker also said it will end production of the Toyota Sequoia in Indiana by 2022 as that facility focuses on mid-size SUV’s and minivans.

Toyota will shift production of the Sequoia in 2022 to Texas and that plant will end production of the Tacoma by late 2021.

Toyota has been building Tacoma trucks at its Baja California plant in Mexico since 2004. Last month, Toyota’s Guanajuato plant began assembly of the Tacoma.

Toyota said its production capacity for the Tacoma in Mexico will be about 266,000 per year. Last year, the automaker sold nearly 249,000 Tacoma pickup trucks in the United States, up 1.3%.

Toyota said the product moves were to “improve the operational speed, competitiveness and transformation at its North American vehicle assembly plants based on platforms and common architectures.”

The new North American trade agreement approved by the U.S. Senate on Thursday ensures that automakers will still be able to build pickup trucks in Mexico without facing new punitive tariffs.

In February, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV <FCAU> said it was reversing plans to shift production of heavy-duty trucks from Mexico to Michigan in 2020, freeing a Michigan facility to produce Jeeps.

Toyota said Friday it completed a $1.3 billion modernization investment in its Indiana operations to add 550 jobs. Toyota said there would be no reduction to direct jobs at any of Toyota’s facilities across North America as a result of the vehicle moves.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese)