- Louis
Gallois, the boss of EADS, the Franco-German aerospace consortium that
owns Airbus, reiterated the warning raised by the planemaker’s CEO, Tom
Enders. Due to the decline in dollar, the companies is seriously
considering moving a large part of its production to low cost countries. - The
delay in delivering the A380 superjumbo is planned to be offset by laying
off 10,000 employees and the sale of several plants. The assumption behind
the plan was that a euro was worth $1.35, not the prevailing $1.47. - Gallois
estimates that each 10-cents rise in the euro costs Airbus 1 billion
euros. - Currently,
Airbus makes 76% of its purchases within Europe
and generates 60% of its sales elsewhere. Due to the rising value of the
euro, some production must now be shifted to low cost countries. - In
2008 Airbus is opening an assembly line for the single-aisle A320 in China
followed by a second site for making composite components. - The
conversion of A320 passenger aircraft into a cargo variant will take place
in Russia
About 5% of work on new A350 will also be done in Russia - Airbus
is also in negotiation with Japanese companies to take on more than 5% of
the work on A350. - Mr.
Gallois suggests that when the A350 enters service in 2013, 70% of it will
have been “purchased” in dollars as compared to 50% for the A380 and an
average 24% of Airbus production today. - About
50% of the A350’s production will be outsourced. Successors to the A320
aircraft may be made almost entirely outside the euro-zone. - Apart
from the exchange rate issue the reasons for outsourcing include: tapping
composite manufacturing expertise. - The
company insists that it will not replace the mistakes made in the case of
Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, 80% of which has been outsourced.
Source: Economist,
December 8th 2007 – “Opposite headings? Why both Boeing and Airbus
are grumbling about their supply chains, pp. 74-75.