Following PSA Retail’s success in establishing its network of PSA Retail spare parts platforms in France in record time, the carmaker-owned automotive distribution group will set up its twelfth and final French spare parts platform at the Rennes plant in Brittany.
PSA Retail will accomplish two goals with this opening. Firstly, it will strengthen its sales and logistics capabilities in the Brittany region, as the new platform will operate in tandem with the PSA Retail spare parts facility located in Nantes/Orvault, which is to remain fully operational. Secondly, it will help to revitalise the Rennes facility.
Renovating building no. 63 and creating jobs at the Rennes plant
PSA Retail’s new spare parts platform in Rennes will be located in building no. 63, which is to undergo a complete renovation and refurbishment to make it functional for spare parts sales and logistics.
A total of 15 jobs will be created at the site. The building, located just three kilometres away from Rennes’ south ring road, has 7,300 sq. m of floor space. Once up and running, the facility will offer a permanent inventory of over 20,000 original manufacturer and IAM (independant aftermarket) catalogue spare parts.
Strategic fit with PSA Retail’s Nantes/Orvault spart parts platform
The existing Nantes/Orvault facility will remain open. In this way, the two sites will work together to optimise service to customers across Brittany, allowing all authorised repair shops (PSA Group and independent repair shops) to be delivered to up to three times a day within 90 minutes from Rennes and Nantes/Orvault.
Right from its launch, the Rennes facility will reap the benefits of the Nantes/Orvault facility’s sales expertise.
Being centrally located in a catchment area is a competitive advantage
The new spare parts platform, which will enjoy the natural advantages offered by the Rennes plant, will be centrally located in a traffic hub that provides fast access to customers throughout Brittany via the nearby E3, E50, N24 and N157 motorways. This central location represents a very attractive opportunity to increase the service rate, which is a key competitiveness driver in the spare parts platform business.
As with all of PSA Retail’s other spare parts platforms, the new platform’s offering in Rennes will cover the entire spare parts market value chain, i.e., Peugeot, Citroën and DS original manufacturer spare parts, as well as Eurorepar and IAM spare parts.
A complete and optimally dense network
With the successive launches of PSA Retail’s platforms in Marseille-Marignane (June), Nice-Corsica (July) and Toulouse (July), as well as the announcement and creation of platforms in Yerville, Normandy and in Alsace (both in September), the announcement of the upcoming platform in Brittany, based at the Rennes and Nantes/Orvault plants, signals the completion of the network.
The new platforms are part of an ecosystem of existing facilities that extends across Lille, Hauts-de-France, Gonesse and Morangis in Ile-de-France, Bordeaux in Aquitaine and Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône Alpes, thereby offering highly intelligent, dense national coverage based around the largest cities in mainland France.
Jean-Baptiste Choupot, Vice-President, Parts and Services at PSA Retail, said: With the Rennes platform set to begin operating in January 2017, PSA Retail will have finished creating its spare parts distribution network in record time. Thanks to these new facilities and the quality of the men and women who work there, we are confident in our ability to increase our customer portfolio and revenue.
Frédéric Laganier, Plant Manager, Rennes, said: The decision to locate the platform at PSA’s Rennes plant is an integral part of the revitalisation plan deployed at the facility and a further demonstration of the PSA Group’s commitment to strengthen its presence in Brittany.
