Under the spotlight on Saturday October 1st during the inauguration of the new Cinémobile, the coachbuilder Toutenkamion, based in Ladon (Loiret) since 1936, is developing exports thanks to activities other than traveling cinemas. The Sindh government in Pakistan ordered 14 new mobile clinics this summer: “We delivered seven in August and the next seven by the end of the year,” explains Stéphane Girerd. “These trucks are on a mission to go to the Pakistani mountains to provide first aid and screening.”
In this regard, two of these trucks have capabilities for detecting cancers. The first, dedicated to men’s health, is thus equipped with an analysis laboratory, while the second – for women – includes a consultation area (ultrasound, examination couch, X-ray) and a mammography examinations. In all, around forty trucks made in the Loiret workshops will eventually travel the roads of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
In export, Toutenkamion achieved up to 75% of its turnover in the Middle East, Africa and Asia in the years 2015-2016. A proportion which has nevertheless dropped to 30% or even 50% depending on the year. This decrease is explained by an upsurge in requests for mobile medical resources in France. “The Covid crisis made the ARS and our governments aware that reaching out to the population was the only way to be sure of reaching the greatest number of people,” he observes. Driven by international and domestic markets, turnover continues to grow, rising from 25 million euros in 2021 to 28 million this year to exceed, according to company forecasts, 30 million next year. .
Program recruitments
In addition to the manufacture of these medical units, “the heart of our activity for years thanks to blood collection trucks”, argues Stéphane Girerd, the markets for security (fire trucks), defense (command posts, radars), and “control” vans for television represent a significant part of the activity of this Loiret industrial jewel.
Toutenkamion was selected, during the health crisis, as part of the automotive recovery plan by the Ministry for Industry, allocating it a subsidy of 800,000 euros out of an investment of 2.3 million to “be more competitive on current markets, in France and abroad, to improve the working conditions of employees thanks to the automation of the most repetitive and physical tasks, and to reduce the energy consumption dedicated to the production of mobile units”, explains the company, which plans to recruit around twenty new employees.