Mecachrome

Mecachrome S.A.S.
Company typePrivate
IndustryConglomerate (mainly motorsports, aerospace, spatial, defense, energy & industry and R&D)
Founded1937
Headquarters
Blagnac
,
France
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Christian Cornille (CEO)
ProductsPowertrains
Revenue€220million (2020)
OwnersBpifrance (34%)
Tikehau Capital (64%)
Number of employees
3700[1]
Websitehttp://www.mecachrome.com

Mecachrome SAS is a precision engineering company based in France that operates in the aerospace, motor racing, energy and defence sectors.

History

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Mecachrome was founded in 1937 in Colombes, France. As a precision engineering company, Mecachrome focus their business on aerospace, automotive, motor racing, defence and energy sectors designing and manufacturing high value-added parts, systems and structural assemblies.[2]

Mecachrome are known most famously for the manufacture of Formula One engines, designed by Renault for Formula One teams including Williams and Benetton during the 1990s.

In 2003, Mecachrome moved its head office from France to Canada. In 2008, the company went public just prior to the global economic crisis. Their share price plunged from a high of $13.55 per share to 15 cents.[3] By July 2008, Mecachrome made job cuts in both Canada and France with production moving to Canada due to excess capacity caused by delays to the Boeing 787, for which Mecachrome was a supplier.[4] In November, the majority shareholding Casella family who were descendants of the original Mecachrome founders, stepped aside. Christian Jacqmin was appointed CEO.[3] At the end of 2008, Mecachrome completed their financial restructuring.[5]

In April 2014, Mecachrome signed a deal to supply to Safran in the manufacture of the new LEAP engine to be used in a variety of Airbus, Boeing and COMAC aircraft.[6] In 2015, Airbus announced Mecachrome as the manufacturer of nose landing gear bays for their new Beluga aircraft. Mecachrome already worked with Airbus on its A320, A330, A380 and A400M aircraft.[7]

In 2017, Mecachrome declared interest in providing a standardised "budget" engine for Formula One. This would have been in addition to their GP2 & GP3 engine supply deals.[8]

In April 2019, Christian Cornille took over as CEO of Mecachrome and targeted €1bn turnover.[9]

The company operates across 14 sites in Europe, North Africa and North America. In 2020, reported revenues were €220million. Mecachrome employ over 2,500 worldwide.[10]

In 2021, the company changed its corporate address from Amboise to Blagnac.[11]

Aerospace

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As of 2024, aerospace accounts for 56%[12] of Mechachrome's international sales. They are primarily concerned with the manufacture of structural parts, such as wing spars, fuselage sections and sheet metal parts. Mechachrome's primary business partners include Airbus, Boeing, Dassault and Embraer, working on both civilian and military aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Eurocopter Tiger. Furthermore, they are also involved in the manufacturing of parts for the Dassault Rafael, and its Snecma M88 engine.[13]

Mecachrome has acquired several specialist manufacturers and suppliers, most notably WeAre group in 2022, expanding its manufacturing capability. Through these acquisitions, Mecachrome has access to 20 manufacturing sites across 5 continents.[1]

Motor racing

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Formula One

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Mecachrome as a Formula One engine manufacturer
Formula One World Championship career
First entry1998 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry1998 Japanese Grand Prix
Races entered16
ChassisWilliams, Benetton
Constructors' Championships0
Drivers'
Championships		0
Race victories0
Podiums5
Points71
Pole positions1
Fastest laps1

Since 1977 until present, Mecachrome has been involved with Renault Sport, the motorsport division of Renault (though today Renault Sport's F1 operations are conducted through Renault Sport F1, a separate group company).

From 1983, Renault began to supply other teams with engines; Mecachrome being given the responsibility of preparing and assembling the engines for these customer teams such as Lotus-Renault in 1983 and Ligier-Renault in 1984. In 1985, Renault withdrew from Formula One as a constructor and from engine supply for the 1987 season. In 1989, Renault returned to F1 as an engine supplier to WilliamsF1 (and Ligier from 1992) with Mecachrome again responsible for preparing the engines for the team.

Renault engines powered Williams and Benetton to six consecutive Constructors' World Championships between 1992 and 1997 and five Drivers' titles with Nigel Mansell (1992), Alain Prost (1993), Michael Schumacher (1995), Damon Hill (1996) and Jacques Villeneuve (1997).

In 1995, Benetton acquired Ligier's stock of Renault V10 engines (same specifications as Williams). In 1996, Renault was privatised and announced its withdrawal from Formula One after the 1997 season. In order to avoid protests by shareholders regarding the costs of engine development, Mecachrome agreed to pay Renault for the development work in order to continue the relationship. The 1998 engines supplied to Williams carried the Mecachrome name while Benetton's engines were badged as Playlife.

In 1998, Flavio Briatore's company, Super Performance Competition Engineering, signed a distribution agreement with Mecachrome to begin in the 1999 season. The engines were purchased and rebadged as Supertec. Supertecs powered Williams in 1999, BAR in 1999 and Arrows in 2000. Supertec also continued to power Benetton under the Playlife brand.

In 2001, Renault returned to Formula One by purchasing the Benetton team with the Renault-designed engines carrying again the Renault name. The relationship remained unchanged with Renault responsible for research and design, assembly, preparation, maintenance, trackside support and also tune-up; this relationship helped Renault win constructors' and driver's F1 championships in 2005 and 2006 with Fernando Alonso.

Mecachrome-assembled Renault engines powered the Red Bull Racing Formula One team to the Constructors' Championship and Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel to the World Drivers' Championship in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

During the start of enhanced hybrid turbocharged power unit regulations, once again Mecachrome helped Renault Energy F1 hybrid power unit build, development, assembly and tune-up for 2014 season onwards.

GP2 Series/FIA Formula 2 Championship

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In 2005, the GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2 Championship) was launched as the official feeder category to Formula One. As the brainchild of Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, the new series was to be powered by Renault engines (badging only), and Mecachrome was tasked with their production. The engines were manufactured at the same base as the Renault F1 units in Aubigny, France with direction from Heini Mader in Switzerland.

The company continued to provide engines and gearboxes for the GP2 Series in its second generation (2008–2010) whilst also supplying the new-for-2008 GP2 Asia Series with slightly detuned versions of the power unit which has been at the core of the GP2 Series since 2005.

Since the 2011 season, Renault Sport no longer badge their Mecachrome engines due to Renault Sport focusing on their Formula One programme.

The Mecachrome V8 GP2/F2 engines were jointly developed by Mecachrome and TEOS Engineering for design, tune-up, R&D, engine maintenance, arrangement and trackside support. The GP2 Series/FIA Formula 2 Championship V8 engine formula specification was in use from 2005 and was retired following the 2017 season.

New engine regulations with 620 hp 3,400 cc V6 single-turbocharged direct-injected engines, known as the Mecachrome V634 Turbo,[14] which is a development of the naturally aspirated Mecachrome V634 used in the GP3 Series, were introduced for 2018 along with a new Dallara F2 2018 chassis while TEOS Engineering renewed its subcontract relationship with Mecachrome on track in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for 2018 beyond.[15] Dutch turbocharger company Van Der Lee Turbo Systems supplies the turbochargers for all FIA Formula 2 Championship engines.[16][17]

GP3 Series/FIA Formula 3 Championship

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In 2015 alongside the Dallara GP3/16 car launch, Mecachrome was selected as the official engine partner and supplier of GP3 Series since 2016 season onwards.[18] The Mecachrome V634 GP3/F3 engines are also jointly developed by Mecachrome and TEOS Engineering for design, tune-up, R&D, engine maintenance, arrangement, shared-production and trackside support. Despite the new Dallara F3 2019 car unveil, the current Mecachrome V634 which will be used by all FIA Formula 3 competitors will extend its service until at least the 2024 season.

World Endurance Championship

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In 2017, Mecachrome partnered with Ginetta as an engine supplier for the G60-LT-P1 LMP1 Prototype, supplying the V634P1, a variant of the V634 F2 engine, which would also be turbocharged by Van Der Lee Turbo Systems. The Ginetta G60-LT-P1-AER, run by CEFC TRSM, was to compete in the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans and the full 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship.[19] However, after withdrawing from the opening WEC round at Spa-Francorchamps and achieving a fifth in class result at Le Mans, which was in reality a 41st position result in the overall standings, Ginetta dropped the Mecachrome V634P1 in favour of the AER P60B engines. This was done due to a performance deficit from the turbo V6 engine, and the lack of response to calls for a development programme from Mecachrome Motorsport, with the stated aim being to unlock the true performance of the chassis.[20] Mecachrome Motorsport responded to Ginetta's announcement soon afterwards, also revealing that it intended to continue its LMP1 engine programme, although it has yet to find any customers to run the engine in any chassis since.[21] Ginetta technical director Ewan Baldry later responded to Mecachrome's claims, acknowledging that while the engine utilised at Le Mans was a first specification engine, the engine was underpowered and did not meet the contractually agreed performance targets.[22]

From the 2024 WEC season onward, Mecachrome provided the engines for the two Alpine-entered A424s, supplying a heavily modified version of the V634 engine used in FIA Formula 2.[23] At the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, both Alpines retired with engine issues: the #35 entry stopped at Arnage after five hours with smoke blowing out of the car, whilst the #36 ended their race in the pits during hour 6.[24][25]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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(key) (results in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Points WCC
1998 Winfield Williams Williams FW20 Mecachrome GC37-01 3.0 V10 G AUS BRA ARG SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR AUT GER HUN BEL ITA LUX JPN 38 3rd
Canada Jacques Villeneuve 5 7 Ret 4 6 5 10 4 7 6 3 3 Ret Ret 8 6
Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen 3 5 9 5 8 Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret 9 5 4 7 5 5
Mild Seven Benetton Benetton B198 Playlife (Mecachrome) GC37-01 3.0 V10 B Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Ret 6 7 Ret Ret 2 2 9 5 Ret 7 8 Ret 8 6 8 33 5th
Austria Alexander Wurz 7 4 4 Ret 4 Ret 4 5 4 9 11 16 Ret Ret 7 9

References

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  1. ^ a b WeAre Group and Mecachrome merger press release - https://www.mecachrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022.08.29_Press-Release-MK_WeAre.pdf
  2. ^ "Mecachrome Company Profile". Datanyze. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b Partridge, John (11 November 2008). "Mecachrome founding family ousted". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Mecachrome cuts jobs, shifts production". The Globe and Mail. 24 July 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Mecachrome completes its financial restructuring in France and Canada". Cision. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  6. ^ Nouvelle, L'Usine (15 April 2014). "Mecachrome produira les aubes du moteur Leap de Safran dès 2015" (in French). usinenouvelle.com/. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Mecachrome Canada is Selected by Stelia Aerospace for the Manufacturing of All Nose Landing Gear Bays on the New Beluga Aircraft" (Press release). Globe Newswire. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Mecachrome declares interest in 2017 budget engine supply". ESPN. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  9. ^ "A new chapter: Christian Cornille". The CEO Magazine. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  10. ^ "About Us". Mecachrome SAS. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Mecachrome France (31700) : siret, siren, TVA, bilan gratuit..." entreprises.lefigaro.fr. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  12. ^ "Aérostructure".
  13. ^ Janes, 2022 - https://www.janes.com/osint-insights/defence-news/industry/aircraft-parts-makers-mecachrome-weare-to-join-forces
  14. ^ "Mecachrome Motorpsort FIA Formula 2". Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  15. ^ "GP2 Series aiming for V6 switch, but not wider tyres for 2018 car". motorsport.com. Motorsport.com. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  16. ^ Craig Scarborough [@ScarbsTech] (10 November 2016). "The forthcoming @GP2_Official @GroupMecachrome turbo v6 engine" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Van Der Lee Turbo Systems Motorsport". Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  18. ^ "New GP3/16 revealed in Monza - GP3 Series". gp3series.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  19. ^ "Mecachrome Confirmed as Ginetta LMP1 Engine Supplier - Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  20. ^ "Ginetta To Test With AER Engine As TRSM Set To Withdraw From Silverstone – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  21. ^ "Mecachrome Motorsport Responds to Ginetta LMP1 Announcement". Mecachrome Motorsport. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  22. ^ "Mecachrome Respond To Silverstone TRSM Withdrawal (Plus Ginetta Response)". Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  23. ^ Oakley, Phil (16 June 2023). "New Alpine A424 Hypercar will use 'heavily modified' version of F2 engine". Motorsportweek. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  24. ^ "LM24, Hour: 6: Alpine drops out of the fight". RACER. 2024-06-15. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  25. ^ "2024 LM24 Hour 5: #35 Alpine Suffers Mechanical Failure". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
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