PARIS (Reuters) – Michelin announced on Tuesday its intention to close its Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) and Vannes (Morbihan) sites by early 2026, which employ 1,254 employees, due to competition from low-cost Asian tires. cost and rising energy prices in Europe.
The entire European automotive sector is currently facing a combination of difficulties: market decline, energy transition and Chinese competition.
“In recent years, the European passenger-light truck and heavy-duty tire markets have undergone a profound transformation, moving strongly towards low-cost tires mainly from Asia,” Michelin explained in a press release.
“The remarkable commitment of the teams and the efforts of the group were not enough to preserve the viability of these two sites, heavily impacted by (…) the deterioration of Europe’s competitiveness, particularly due to the inflation and rising energy prices,” he added.
On the Cholet site, whose production was temporarily stopped during the announcements, general meetings of employees were to be held Tuesday afternoon, two unions said.
“The CGT will call on all French sites for Michelin employees to strike to show their discontent and support for the employees of these two sites,” declared Romain Baciak, central CGT delegate, on BFM TV.
“The CFDT asks management to review its project by negotiating with its staff representatives (and) also calls on the Minister of Industry to require Michelin to review its position on the closure of these two sites”, reacted from its side the CFDT in a leaflet.
The Clermont-based group specified that the majority of affected employees would leave the group and be offered “external professional mobility” support, while the others will benefit either from pre-retirement measures or from support to be reclassified. within the company.
To finance this plan, Michelin will record a provision of around 330 million euros in non-recurring charges in its consolidated accounts as of December 31, 2024, he added.
The group, which already announced a year earlier the closure of two German truck tire sites, lowered its annual result forecast last month to take into account a more marked slowdown than expected in the automobile market in the third quarter.
(Written by Elena Smirnova, with Gilles Guillaume, edited by Blandine Hénault and Sophie Louet)
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