This is one of the government’s priorities. Emmanuel Macron himself announced this commitment in his “ecological planning” presented on September 25. France wants to triple the number of heat pumps produced domestically by 2027, up to one million units manufactured per year. Leading French manufacturer of boilers and heat pumps, Saunier Duval can rub their hands in the face of such ambitions. But, for the moment, the atmosphere is rather mixed in its ranks. Because, despite encouraging prospects, the reality is different: sales of heat pumps are currently in decline and the volume of orders no longer allows all 907 employees of its industrial site based in Nantes to work.
So much so that from this Friday partial unemployment comes into force within the company, which belongs to the German group Valiant. Around 500 employees (production operators, team leaders, support functions) are affected by this forced rest lasting “12 days to 22 days”. The use of temporary workers is also frozen.
Real estate market, inflation, subsidies…
“For three years, we doubled our production volume each year. We worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week and we hired accordingly. But, since June, we have observed a turnaround in the market, up to -40% on sales. It’s a sudden and significant drop that forces us to react quickly,” explains Yuna Jossé, director of the Saunier Duval factory.
The real estate market crisis is highlighted as one of the major causes. “Purchasing a heat pump is often done when moving into a new home. The fact that real estate transactions have fallen by 40% in France obviously penalizes us,” analyzes Yuna Jossé.
The director of the Nantes industrial site, which mainly manufactures for France, Germany, Spain and Italy, puts forward other explanations. “Inflation has certainly made European consumers doubt or postpone purchasing decisions until later. In Italy, the government has also decided to suspend subsidies. Customers also tell us that state aid sometimes remains difficult to understand or put in place. »
“We think this crisis is temporary”
While Saunier Duval was counting on 100,000 heat pumps produced this year in Nantes, the brand should ultimately release no more than 70,000. That is, all the same, “20% more than the previous year”, specifies management. A revival of activity is now expected from the “second quarter of 2024”. “We remain convinced within the group that this crisis is temporary. We have confidence in the heat pump product which is, in our opinion, the low CO2 heating solution that the French market needs. We are totally in line with Emmanuel Macron’s vision,” explains Yuna Jossé.
The high cost of a heat pump and its installation for individuals, however, makes state aid decisive. “As with electric vehicles, the consumer needs subsidies to take the plunge,” believes Yuna Jossé. It’s a market that still needs a boost. » Heat pumps are “already very subsidized today, I don’t see what more we can do”, asks, for his part, Nicolas Moulin, founder of Primesenergie.fr, a support company for the renovation.
Despite the context, some 30 million euros of investment are planned by the end of 2025 at Saunier Duval. The objective is to bring the Nantes site to a production capacity of “160,000 heat pumps per year”.
Around 170 heat pump production sites are listed in Europe. Thirty-two are in France belonging to around ten manufacturers. The European sales leader is the Japanese group Daikin.
Requested several times, the CFDTthe majority union at Saunier Duval, did not respond.