This concentration on a few key players appears to be completed

This has not yet resumed, far from it. But among the subcontractors of the industry, the disaster feared some for this receipt has not occurred. With the extension of the crisis, professionals feared an explosion of the number of bankruptcies in September-October, on the part of companies having exhausted all their ammunition and seeing their order books always also empty. In reality, "the re-entry is not bad went", note Thierry Millon, responsible cabinet Altares studies.

In the automotive subcontractors, which constitute the bulk of the troops, 36 failures thus identified these two months, no more than a year ago, in the same period. Obviously, the rise of market car with premiums to case-sensitive and recovery in China helped some manufacturers to pass the Cape. What put some balm to the heart of the subcontractors who find themselves in Villepinte for their annual show, the Midest, inaugurated this morning by the Minister of industry Christian Estrosi.

Critical size

After massacring the shares in the companies of this sector, investors also began to rediscover, bet on recovery. On the stock exchange, Lisi thus resumed 13 the last six months, Oxymetal 18 Plastivaloire 30, Montupet 39, the RAM 91, whereas the MGI broker course climbed 123. "The situation of extreme fragility of SMEs remains preoccupying," stressed however Thierry Millon. Payment deadlines, in particular, are start rising, sign that Treasuries are particularly strained. Logic: this year, the turnover of the French companies of subcontracting should decline by 11 on average, and their net pass in the red, according to Daniel Coué forecasts, consultant to the Mid-East. But this is only an average. In niche areas such as the forge and the foundry, the fall of activity is closer to 20...

A situation that is causing an accelerated reconstruction of the sector. Some companies have disappeared, the image of the British Wagon Automotive, long one of the leading outsourcing in France, dismantled this summer, or Foundry Pamco, in the Orne, wound up in July. Others have held so far, at the cost of significant restructuring as Mecaplast, which should remove 368 posts on its 15 French sites.

Others have still benefited from the crisis to retrieve interesting assets, often at low prices. The opportunity to gain size sometimes critical missing to discuss in good conditions with ACHS. This is the logic of the resumption of the plants of Key Plastics by Plastivaloire, thus become rank 1 automotive supplier.

This concentration on a few key players appears to be completed. "It is still in full evening of weapons, most will take place in 2010," said Daniel Coué. "It will require that the restructuring of the automobile fabric will continue." "There is any work of consolidation and restructuring to make," confirmed there are few Jean-Christophe Quémard, the pattern of PSA purchases. According to him, the subcontractors still suffer from overcapacity of approximately 40.

Shots of an inch from the ISP

Donors of orders, starting with the automakers, play a major role in the consolidation. They are the ones in part, on the occasion of the crisis, separating the wheat from the chaff. With sometimes divergent choices. Elected supplier of the year 2009 by PSA Peugeot Citroën, Loire study has thus been placed in receivership, "strangled", according to his boss, "by the Renault procurement service..."

Another important actor is the industrial strategic Fund, with its Emanation, FMEA (modernization of the motor equipment Fund). Giving boost to some subcontractors handpicked, it allows them to be among the winners of this reconstruction. 25 Million brought him this summer, SNOP, a specialist of cutting and stamping, was for example able to recover seven of the eight French car Automotive sites. Sixteenth group of new outsourcing in France in 2008, according to the ranking of "The plant", SNOP should climb this year among the top ten.