Employees work on the new Citroen C3 Picasso in the PSA Peugeot Citroen Slovakia plant in Trnava. (source: Reuters)
The joining of the French carmaker PSA Group and the European division of Opel may lead to an increase in production at the Trnava-based carmaker PSA Groupe Slovakia. Ján Lešinský from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Slovak University of Technology and an expert on automotive production told the TASR newswire.
Already the carmaker in Trnava, along with Kia Motors Slovakia near Žilina, manufactures more cars than was originally planned.
“The Trnava plant now produces now about 10 percent more cars than the original capacity planned for,” said Lešinský. “And there is still some reserve as the plant is launching the fourth shift.”
Lešinský sees the purchase of Opel by the PSA Group as an alliance of strong players. He expects that the Trnava plant may later produce the smaller models of Opel. The expert cited the example of Volkswagen Slovakia in Bratislava where the same platform is used for the production of various car makes. This may happen also in Trnava, said Lešinský, recalling that the Trnava plant has the best quality production within the PSA Group. But he does not expect hiring of additional staff as both companies will have to rationalise their production.
“The PSA Groupe Slovakia can benefit from innovative solutions or solutions that would not require so many workers,” said Lešinský, adding that unless a new plant for car production is built in Trnava, they are able to manufacture more cars with the same number of workers when using more innovative approaches.
