Polish trains like Formula 1 cars: Pesa prepares a big leap with Hitachi

Polish train manufacturer Pesa is embarking on a significant collaboration with Japanese giant Hitachi, aiming to produce high-speed trains. This partnership emerged after Hitachi approached Pesa, following previous business interactions involving transformer components designed in Łódź. The discussions, initially courteous, evolved over six months into identifying specific areas for cooperation.

Pesa's substantial growth, from a turnover of one billion Polish zloty seven years ago to one billion euros currently, with a projected EBITDA of nearly 400 million Polish zloty this year, reportedly convinced Hitachi of Pesa's potential. This financial success, achieved while maintaining margins, contrasts sharply with Pesa's negative profitability in the past.

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Jestem w Pesie siedem lat i na początku mieliśmy miliard złotych obrotu, a teraz mamy miliard euro, i to zachowując marże. W tym roku przyniesiemy prawie 400 mln zł EBITDA, a siedem lat temu rentowność była ujemna. Myślę, że to przekonało Hitachi do nas.

A consortium of Pesa-Hitachi submitted an application to PKP Intercity on June 15 to participate in a tender for new high-speed trains. PKP Intercity has extended the submission deadline to June 25. While Pesa had previously hoped to collaborate with Spanish firm Talgo, the acquisition plans did not materialize due to disagreements over shareholding. Hitachi's global strength made it the preferred partner over Talgo.

The preliminary agreement signed on June 16 outlines the general direction of cooperation, with detailed agreements to follow. Key areas of interest for Pesa include technology transfer, particularly in aluminum welding techniques, which can reduce energy consumption by up to 10%. Other attractive areas include electric drives and double-decker vehicles. Pesa aims to be ready with aluminum technology in 2-3 years, necessitating parallel work alongside the PKP Intercity tender, which has already faced multiple postponements.

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Produkcja pociągów wysokiej prędkości jest jak budowa bolidów Formuły 1. Gdyby doszedł do skutku zakup Talgo, bylibyśmy jak właściciel stajni wyścigowej, a tak będziemy współpracować z większym zespołem...