Driverless car developer announces 50 new jobs in €44m investment for Tuam research centre
A car technology supplier has announced a €44m investment in research and development in the west of Ireland.
The investment will create 50 jobs over the next three years at its R&D centre in Tuam, Co. Galway, which will see its staff numbers grow to more than 500.
The investment, which is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland, will further develop its Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) for driverless vehicles.
Marc Vrecko, Valeo Comfort and Driving Assistance Systems Business Group President, said: “Our facility in Tuam is one of the leading Research centres in the Group. We are very excited about the announcement today to further expand our footprint here to build on the proven innovation in Product and Process R&D.
"The investment will help fuel the global growth of the Vision Product Line and extend Valeo as global leader for ADAS systems and related MaaS products.”
Minister of State for Rural Affairs & Natural Resources, Sean Canney, welcomed the announcement.
He said: “Valeo is a substantial and valued employer in Tuam and indeed Galway and the West region and this announcement that VVS is to make a major investment in an RD&I programme is great news, demonstrating significant commitment by the company to the Tuam site as it positions itself at the leading edge of the development of autonomous vehicles.
"It also shows that global companies of the calibre of Valeo can find, in regional locations, the skilled workers they require, the necessary infrastructure and services and pro-business environment, to establish and grow their operations.
"I wish Vice President Fergus Moyles and his team continued success here.”
Valeo is not only involved with driverless cars, but also works in the field of electric cars and developing systems to reduce CO2 emissions from cars.
Valeo has 186 plants, 21 research centres, 38 development centres and 15 distribution platforms, and employs 113,600 people in 33 countries worldwide.
Their plant in Tuam helps develop sensors, including vision cameras and ADAS systems which act as the eyes of their driverless vehicles to enable the vehicles to make the right decision while driving.
The R&D centre in Tuam is the Group’s worldwide reference centre for vision systems. The site includes a state of the art production facility alongside an R&D Centre of Excellence with responsibility for the development and manufacture of automotive camera vision systems for global markets.
