John Deere to create jobs and produce electric batteries in Fleury-le-Aubret

At its huge site in Fleury-le-Aubre, in the urban area of ​​Orléans, the American group John Deere, which manufactures diesel engines locally, is preparing to launch a new activity. “We are going to set up a production line for electric batteries here,” says department head Bruno Rodik, proudly opening a huge hall of more than 2,700 m2, completely empty at the moment.

The project could have been carried out elsewhere in Europe, in Poland or Austria, but in the end, the “industrial know-how of the site” convinced the group to choose a suburb of Orléans for this investment, he justifies.

The farm equipment manufacturer is investing $34 million in this warehouse, which was previously intended for storage, to finance development and, in particular, the necessary machines, with the prospect of producing 19,000 batteries per year, i.e. 12 GWh.

This new activity will have a positive impact on employment. To start the line, John Deere provides 60 full-time equivalents. The start is announced for the end of 2024, but the group sees further and already assumes a possible doubling of the site’s capacity, judging by the market reaction.

These batteries will, for example, power London buses, boats, charging stations, agricultural machinery, etc. But they should not replace the diesel engines that the Fleury-les-Aubrais plant and its 800 employees will continue to produce.

At the end of December, the site was operating at full capacity. The company produces 350 engines a day and continues to invest in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its products with a goal of reducing them by 30% by 2030.