Michelin announced this Tuesday morning the closure of two of its factories in France. Employees were notified from its Carmes site in Clermont-Ferrand. The closures concern the Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) and Vannes (Morbihan) sites. 1,254 employees are affected, including 299 employees on its Morbihan site, management told France Bleu Armorique.
Michelin explains these closures by “the collapse” of sales of tires for trucks and vans. “It is the collapse of activity which has caused this situation, and I want to tell all these employees that we will not leave anyone behind.”declared Michelin CEO Florent Menegaux in an interview with AFP.
955 employees in Cholet, 299 in Vannes
The larger of the two factories is that of Cholet. It employs 955 employees who mainly manufacture small tires for light trucks (17 inches and less). This market segment “experienced a significant decline” in Europe in recent years, “with a drastic reduction in production volumes (…) with no prospect of recovery”justifies Michelin. The Vannes site has 299 employees who mainly produce metal cables for tires then manufactured in Spain and Italy in particular.
These two announced factory closures have just been added to those of Poitiers, Toul, Joué-lès-Tours and La-Roche-sur-Yon. Michelin will have closed six factories in 20 years.
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