Announced at the start of the week, do the social plans of Auchan (2,500 jobs) and Michelin (1,250 jobs) open a season in hell on the social front? Me Philippe Druon, partner at Hogan Lovells, specialist in collective procedures and restructuring, admits to having a vision “unhappy” of the future: “We are facing a deep, structural crisis in lifestyles, consumption and work. Added to this are changes such as that towards electric cars. This affects almost all sectors: distribution, automotive, construction, real estate, tech…”
In firms such as his, files from companies in difficulty are arriving in even greater numbers as state-guaranteed loans granted during the Covid-19 pandemic must now be repaid, against a backdrop of political and social instability. . And it's not over: “If Trump implements his program, we will taste…”sighs Me Druon.
The automobile sector is emblematic. Concentrated by structural changes and more cyclical fragilities, it is hit by both the drop in sales of private cars, still 15% below their pre-Covid-19 level, the technological transformation with the transition to electricity and energy prices higher than those paid by Chinese competitors.
Car manufacturers under pressure
Add to this the tightening of European regulations on CO emissions2 in 2025, which puts builders under pressure and, often, a loan guaranteed by the State, obtained during the pandemic, which must be repaid.
Upon arrival, a cohort of companies found themselves in great difficulty. The announcement of the closure of two Michelin factories, in Vannes and Cholet (Maine-et-Loire), with more than 1,250 jobs, on Tuesday, November 5, shows that the situation does not spare the most solid and globalized groups . Valeo had previously announced that it was looking for buyers for three of its sites in France, with 1,120 jobs at stake. The equipment manufacturer Forvia, another French giant, has announced 10,000 job cuts in Europe over the next five years.
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Small equipment manufacturers are at the heart of the turmoil: in the Ardennes, Walor, which notably manufactures connecting rods for heavy goods vehicles – with 245 jobs on two sites – is in receivership. In the Loire, Anderton Castings, which manufactures aluminum parts with 53 employees, has just been put into liquidation. The Belgian group Dumarey could have submitted a takeover offer. But he himself is in difficulty. It is cutting 248 jobs in Strasbourg in its subsidiary Powerglide (formerly Punch) which produces gearboxes for the German equipment manufacturer ZF, which has terminated its contract.
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