Ford invests millions in a new state of the art training facility in Daventry, UK.

Ford is creating a new, state-of-the-art training facility on its existing site in Daventry, Northamptonshire, as part of a multi-million pound investment.

The new site will merge the capabilities of two existing Ford colleges – the Technical Training Centre located separately at Daventry, and the Henry Ford College in Loughborough, which provides training for technicians, sales staff and management throughout Ford’s national dealer network.

Scheduled to open next year, the brand-new centre will replace the existing facilities to become a centre of excellence for training across the country. The new building forms an extension to the existing 150,000 square-metre Parts Distribution Centre (PDC) on the Daventry site. It will deliver courses to adult learners up to Diploma and Masters Degree level, as well as students taking the successful Ford Masters Apprenticeship programmes.

The building will include classrooms, a 200-seat auditorium and a vehicle showroom area, in addition to a lounge and large restaurant. Both the interior and exterior of the building will follow the design and style of the new-look Ford dealer showrooms, including ‘Hello’ and ‘Relax’ areas in the reception.

Jon Wellsman, director, Ford Customer Service Division, said: “With the latest Ford vehicles now demonstrating technology leadership, it is important that our dealer teams receive the highest quality technical and product training. This world-class new facility will enable us to do just that.”

Ford is simultaneously announcing a series of engineering and business apprenticeship programmes, including a newly-established Higher Apprenticeship in IT, in addition to the extremely successful Masters Apprenticeship Programme, which recruits 450 new apprentices into the Ford dealer network every year. 

Construction on the new site is expected to be completed in December 2014, and is scheduled to open in early 2015.

Ford College manager, Stuart Harris, said: “This new training centre is a fantastic opportunity to consolidate our industry-leading training programmes, enabling us to provide face-to-face tuition in a real-world working environment.”

Renault reaffirms commitment to Brazil with further large investments.

• Investments of R$ 500 million (£133 million) from 2014 to 2019 will be allocated to the development of new vehicles in the Curitiba plant
• An additional R$ 240 million (£64 million) over the next 10 years will support the creation of a new distribution centre to supply Renault’s 275 outlets in Brazil and other markets.

Renault Group Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn today announced a new investment cycle in Brazil in the amount of R$ 500 million (£133 million) over the 2014-2019 period. This investment will be channelled into the development of two new cars at Renault’s plant in Curitiba.  

“Since 2011, Brazil has been the brand’s second largest market after France and it is a priority in the Group’s global growth strategy”, says Carlos Ghosn. Renault Brazil successfully completed its previous investment plan and is now pursuing the ambition of expanding its domestic market share”.

Renault has now been producing in Brazil for fifteen years. With a market share of 6.7% at end-March, Renault is reaffirming its position as the fifth largest carmaker in the country. The Group is targeting an 8% market share by 2016.

Thanks to its previous investment plan of R$ 1.5 billion (£398 million), Renault strengthened its growth strategy in Brazil based on three pillars:

• Production capacity increase from 280,000 to 380,000 annual units at the Curitiba Ayrton Senna industrial complex
• Product range update with two brand-new models launched in 2013: Master and New Logan
• Dealership network expansion with 100 new stores opened in the last three years, totalling 275 sales outlets.

New national parts distribution centre

Renault also announced today the implementation of a new national parts distribution centre in the city of Quatro Barras – State of Paraná – with start of operations planned for the second half of 2015. This new centre represents an investment of R$ 240 million (£64 million) over the next 10 years and the creation of 250 jobs. Daily operations would include movement of 120 heavy-duty trucks.

In addition to meeting the needs of Renault dealerships nationwide, the new distribution centre will also supply parts and components to Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Central America, South Africa and France.