Sunsundegui, the Navarrese company in which 300 employees workpublicly announced this morning that they had requested the opening of a period of negotiation with their creditors and investors.
The Minister of Industry and Ecological and Digital Transition of Businesses of the Government of Navarre, Mikel Irujoindicated that “the business plan foresees the possibility of a positive Ebitda from 2025 if all the conditions put on the table are met, with a turnover exceeding 80 million euros.” And he stated that “Volvo continues to bet on Sunsundegui“.
The director appeared before a parliamentary committee on Tuesday at his own request as well as at the UPN and PPN and explained that the company was suffering problems in the production line due to “process inefficiency, lack of spare parts, engineering delays or financing issues.”
“This implied that the production rate would become a daily car“, he said, commenting that at the end of June “the a rate of 1.5 cars per day despite even not having resolved “The company’s goal is to continue to increase to almost two cars a day by the end of the year,” he said.
As he continued, the company lost margin “mainly because of additional charges not reflected in prices and for the lack of adaptation of staff to production“. “Work is underway both to improve inefficiencies and to negotiate prices with their customers,” he said.
Irujo explained that there has been an oversizing of staff since “150 people have been hired by the end of 2023 necessary for the production of volvo cars“In addition, additional staff had to be hired at the beginning of 2024 to resolve incidents in certain positions,” he commented, specifying that “achieving profitability requires an adjustment of production staff.”
He also commented on the financial tensions in Sundundegui. “Treasury estimates assume that the company would have liquidity until early September 2024 thanks to the receipt of the 5.1 million advance from Volvo. However, in September, the company there would be no positive box continue to meet their most immediate obligations,” he stressed.
Irujo also spoke about the company’s high debt, with “a financial and operational debt that amounts to 48.8 million, of which 8.9 million are with suppliers and 39.9 million are financial debts.” The advisor also mentioned tensions with suppliersas well as the situation of equity imbalance.
The company’s challenges, the adviser explained, involve producing a minimum number of buses and selling them to achieve minimum profitability or focusing on the most profitable models. “Also, obviously, in the search for potential investors and we maintain a permanent dialogue with the social sector” he said.
Irujo said there was a “boom” in coach market in Europe and in the world. “We have practically had a break for three years and with Covid, purchases stopped, they were not sold, no one asked, in this case, for new buses and it is at the end of 2022 that the sector begins to recover,” he said. , adding that with the energy transition also, “the expectations of the registration sector, of the bus sector, are enormous.”
Regarding the contract with Volvo, the advisor said that “the manufacturing of the two new models is limited because what Volvo wants is buses, but what Volvo does is keep the order book“He is not terminating the contract, there are no fewer buses in the factory, there are no fewer orders, what he is doing is changing the contract itself,” he said, adding that “Volvo currently has an order book which in itself exceeds the current capacity available to the company.”
The groups’ turn, the UPN parliamentarian Ana Elisalde indicated that “there are permanent contradictions and confusions in the information they give us.” “We are asking for clarification after the company began a pre-bankruptcy procedure,” he said, considering that the Executive “abandoned its functions” with Sunsundegui. “He was not aware of the company and its problems,” he added.
The PPN parliamentarian, Maribel Garcia Malosaid that this news of the pre-bankruptcy of the company’s creditors and the fact that it will not manufacture buses for Volvo represent “a clear setback for the hopeful and promising future of the company that was announced through the Volvo Buses project and that we all wanted.”The current situation is confusing with everything that is happening“, he said, to emphasize that “we have doubts about the surveillance and control that the Government of Navarre exercises over this project.”
Socialist Javier Lecumberri indicated that “there is a situation of tension and complexity” in the company, which “is a driving force in Sakana, with more than 400 jobs.” “We have to bet, it has already happened, on an emblematic company in Navarre, we are in a complex situation and there is hope of seeing the light at the end of this tunnel,” he said, stressing that “there is enough hope for it to be worth the bet.”
From EH Bildu, Laura Aznal stressed that “this is a concern shared by all the groups because it is true that they are going through a complicated situation.” “The time has come to go further by demanding accountability and demanding transparency and information,” he said, stressing that “in this company there were serious management problems.”
Geroa Bai’s representative Mikel Asian said that “we understand that Volvo continues to believe in Sunsundegui beyond the fact that these high-end models will not be manufactured.” And he defended the Minister of Industry, who “is not guilty of excess of triumphalism but on the contrary, of excess of caution.”
Miguel Garridoof Contigo-Zurekin, said that “knowing that a large part of Sunsundegi’s future possibilities is to attract capital, I think they are doing a disservice by sowing doubt.” “Sunsundegi’s current situation is not a surprise to anyone,” he said, indicating that “we need a financial bridge until the company is EBITDA positive and can operate autonomously.”
Finally, Emilio Jimenezfrom Vox, stressed thatthe pre-competition “This is not a good thing because it raises concerns and many fears.” “A company that has been kept alive with artificial life thanks to the efforts of all Navarrese and to the detriment of many other companies, we continue to expose the money of all Navarrese,” he said.
