News | 05/10/2018
Liebherr inaugurates a new diesel engine assembly line in Colmar, France
With the inauguration of a new assembly line for the production of large diesel engines, Liebherr finalises the establishment of a new facility in France. On this occasion, Liebherr-Components Colmar SAS celebrates the beginning of a new era for the company.
Founded in 2011, Liebherr-Components Colmar SAS as a part of the Components Division specialises in the design, assembly and testing of diesel engines in the upper power range. In 2014, the company has moved into the newly built facility in Colmar. In the meantime, numerous construction and installation phases have been finalised. As a result, the assembly line for serial production is now fully operational, offering new perspectives to the company.
How it all began
The ambitious project started in 2009, at Liebherr Machines Bulle SA in Switzerland. In Bulle, diesel engines were produced since 1985, originally finding their application in Liebherr earthmoving machines, such as hydraulic excavators. The idea was then to expand the portfolio in order to be able to offer Liebherr engines also for the Liebherr mining equipment, for example hauling trucks. As a consequence, Liebherr-Components Colmar SAS was founded in 2011 to pursue this goal.
While the project was evolving and the new company growing, the construction of a production site started in the beginning of 2012. In May 2014, the new facility was ready, expanding Liebherr's presence in the Colmar region with one further site additionally to the already existing ones: Liebherr-Mining Equipment Colmar SAS, Liebherr-France SAS and the five Liebherr sales and service companies in Niederhergheim.
In May 2016, Liebherr started with the construction of the new assembly line, including several construction and installation phases. This strategy enabled the start of serial production even before the full completion of the assembly line in May 2018. In total, Liebherr invested around 10 million euros into the new production line.
Project expansion
Since the foundation of the company, parallel projects have been emerging for further markets in addition to mining. Thus, Liebherr entered a collaboration with Kohler and Kohler-SDMO for the genset industry. The serial production for this specific project started in 2016 with around 100 engines having been produced by the end of 2017.
Moreover, Liebherr also plans on targeting the railway as well as oil & gas industry and foresees an increase in production within the coming years. Around 250 engines should be produced by the end of this year and this number should almost double within the next two years.
Following its expansion strategy, Liebherr plans to further extend the workforce in Colmar. Today, 230 employees are working on site as compared to the 16 employees in 2011. By the end of 2020, the company intends on hiring a total of approx. 300 employees. Liebherr-Components Colmar SAS offers numerous job opportunities in various fields of activity already today and will be reinforcing the offer in the future.