Autonomous car company Valeo is creating 50 new jobs in Tuam with a €44 million investment.
The company is expanding its R&D centre in Tuam to further its development of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and driverless cars.
The 50 news jobs in Galway will be delivered over the next three years and see Valeo’s total workforce at the centre to.
Galway East TD Seán Canney welcomed the announcement by Valeo and said it showed “significant commitment” to Tuam as it pushes itself to the forefront of the emerging market in autonomous cars.
“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,” he added.
“I wish Vice President Fergus Moyles and his team continued success here.”
Valeo is a automotive supplier operating in 33 countries and is a leading global supplier of sensors, including vision cameras and ADAS systems.
Their Tuam R&D centre is the Group’s worldwide reference centre for vision systems, and includes a a state of the art production facility along with its research centre for advanced cameras.
This is just the latest addition to the extensive workforce that Valeo has in the region, employing 1,000 people in the west of Ireland and 450 in Tuam alone.
The Tuam workforce consists of highly skilled engineers and scientists across a range of disciplines, working on the latest technologies in Artificial intelligence and Deep Learning, for application at the cutting edge of advancements in autonomous vehicles.
Speaking about the investment Marc Vrecko, Valeo Comfort and Driving Assistance Systems Business Group President, said they are excited to build on their “sustained and rewarding investment” in the area that has delivered “proven innovation”.
This investment is being supported by the government through IDA Ireland.
CEO of IDA Ireland Martin Shanahan said the investment will add “significant value” to the Tuam site and “will benefit Tuam, Galway and the West region substantially.”
