- The Government of Navarra, headed by its president, María Chiviteand senior vice president of Volvo Buses’ Chassis Business Unit, Dan PetterssonThe company’s employees have visited Sunsundegui’s facilities to learn about the courses organized by the Navarre Employment Service to hire workers who can attend the company’s new contract with Volvo.
- María Chivite, President of Navarre, describes the agreement between the Navarrese bodybuilder and the Swedish multinational as a “success story resulting from public-private collaboration” during a visit to the students of one of the assembly courses in Alsasua.
Representatives of the Government of Navarre, headed by its president, María Chivitetogether with the Senior Vice President of the Chassis-Volvo Buses Business Unit and the Mayor of Alsasua, visited Sunsundegui’s facilities on Tuesday to learn about the courses organized by the Navarre Employment Service that are being taught at the factory itself and whose professionals have already begun to join the Navarra bodybuilder’s workforce as a result of the company’s new agreement with Volvo.
During the visit to the students, María Chivite, President of Navarre, described the agreement as “success story of a public-private partnership“He also assured that this alliance “would not have been possible without the excellence developed in this plant, but also without the financial support of both the Government of Navarre and the State”. In this regard, Chivite stressed that “we are being an important ally in the process of training and hiring the necessary workforce”, stressing that this government has demonstrated today, in Sunsundegui, that “we are not only capable, but also that we are effective in generating a suitable ecosystem to continue advancing in the progress of Navarre.“.
The success of this collaboration is reflected in the data: since last September, the following companies have already joined the staff of the Navarrese body manufacturer first 31 peopleof which 25% are women, thus complying with the company’s commitment to the equality plan. Of the total number of people hired, there are 13 people from the electrical, 10 from the welding and 8 from the painting courses.
With regard to the courses that are being taught, it should be noted that, since the end of August and up to the present, seven have been held: two welding courses, with 22 people trained; two electricity courses, with 18 participants; and three painting courses, with 32 students. According to the planned program, six assembly courses, another one on electricity and one more on painting are still to be carried out. Training is given at the Sakana integrated center in Alsasua, at the Iturrondo center in Burlada / Burlata and at the company’s own facilities.
Together with the President of Navarra, the Minister of Industry and Ecological Transition and Digital Business attended the meeting, Mikel Irujo, the Councilor for Social Rights, Social Economy and Employment, Carmen Maeztu; the mayor of Altsasu/Alsasua, Javier Ollo; the managing director of the Navarre Employment Service-Nafar Lansare (SNE-NL), Miriam Martón; and, as a business representative, the following participated Dan Pettersson and Sunsundegui’s own CEO, José Ignacio Murillo.
The mayor of Alsasua expressed his satisfaction with this alliance and announced that next year “we have a plan and a financial plan drawn up to carry out a major investment in relation to the accesses and the industrial estate as a whole, which will benefit not only Sunsundegui, but also many other companies”.
For Dan Pettersson, thanks to the collaboration and mutual trust with Sunsundegui “we will be able to serve our customers in all our markets” and he pointed out that “we are working together Sunsundegui, Volvo and the other stakeholders and I am sure that this project will be a great success,” he said.
For his part, Sunsundegui’s CEO states that “This new contract is to manufacture two new Volvo 9700 and 9900 models, but not only the manufacturing is transferred, but also the engineering of them. In other words, starting next year, Sunsundegui will be responsible for all the engineering of the 9700 and 9900 models and all their variations in the future”. With this project, “we plan to grow to 783 units, up to 720 employees and sales in the order of 140 million. An astonishing growth in a very short time.
In addition, José Ignacio Murillo announced that the Navarrese bodybuilder has other collaborations underway with the Swedish company outside this contract: “We are jointly developing a bodywork for an electric chassis that is under development at Volvo. And the idea is that we will be the suppliers of this vehicle for southern Europe”.
In addition to visiting the assembly course students, the delegation visited the pilot of one of the high-end bus models to be manufactured by the Navarrese coachbuilder for Volvo. Afterwards, José Ignacio Murillo and Dan Pettersson exchanged the documentation of the agreement reached between the two companies, which also includes the transfer of technology and supply between the two parties. This visit is a further demonstration of the support and recognition of the institutions for the future of the Navarre company, since the agreement signed is allowing it to expand its current production capacity.
A strategic project for Navarra
The Government of Navarra, Sunsundegui and Volvo Buses are working hand in hand on a project considered strategic for the region of Navarra. The process of recruiting and training professional profiles through the Navarre Employment Service is one of the first actions defined within the framework of the public-private collaboration that is being coordinated by the Department of Industry, Ecological Transition and Digital Business, through Sodena, which is also working on the study of land and facilities and on the line of financial support in view of the planned production expansion.