Michelin closes tire factory and licenses 600 employees

The French group Michelin announced Thursday the closure of its plant in La Roche-sur-Yon, France, with 619 employees, because of market difficulties and Asian competition.

This is the second shutdown reported by the tire group after the announcement two weeks ago of the closure of a plant in Germany, which employs 858 people.

The management will propose a plan to "support" the employees of La Roche-sur-Yon during early retirement measures and internal and external mobilization, announced the group in a statement.

"Michelin will give every employee the opportunity to stay in the business in France," promised the world's second largest tire manufacturer.

The closure of the La Roche-sur-Yon (west-central) plant, planned before the end of 2020, will also concern 74 people working in a factory in the nearby town of Cholet.

"For years, we have tried to maintain the factory, but it is impossible, the market conditions no longer allow it."said Michelin President Florent Menegaux in an interview with the newspaper Ouest-France.

"The site is small and, despite the investments we have made to try to give it a critical size, it is not efficient enough in terms of industrial costs," he said.

This is due to "difficulties in the premium truck tire market, both in Europe and abroad", with a stagnant European market "and more intense competition".

An argument rejected by the SUD Michelin union, denouncing a "betrayal". The workers "are not responsible for the catastrophic strategy of margins and price (…) that leads to this social disaster," said the union, which called for an "unlimited strike" and an "urgent meeting" with the Minister of Economy, Bruno. The mayor.

At the end of 2018, the group employed 110,000 full-time employees, including more than 20,000 in France, where the company has about 15 industrial centers.

Discover the latest news in the digital economy, startups, fintech, business innovation and blockchain. CLICK HERE