Obviously everything is correlated but it is true that at the moment, announcements of closures and layoffs in the automotive world are coming one after the other. And when it is not a question of manufacturers, it is the equipment manufacturers who are affected. The European Association of Automotive Suppliers, Clea, even spoke a few days ago of “worst period we have ever known”.
Forvia, Continental, Valeo, ZF, and now Bosch, so many big names which are not immune to the current crisis. Without obviously forgetting Michelin, where many employees have been on partial unemployment in recent days to compensate for the lack of activity. But even worse than that, it is the sword of Damocles which hangs over various sites of the tire manufacturer, with the threat of outright closure. But if the unions want to know what awaits them, management procrastinates. And specifies that an announcement will be made in this first week of November.
Three factories in the viewfinder
Thus, a spokesperson for the Clermont-based group specified to the Reuters agency that Michelin will respond by Saturday November 9, 2024 to the unions' fears of seeing one or more of the sites close. It must be said that the unions have launched an economic alert right on the Cholet, Vannes and Joué-lès-Tours sites. The three sites employ 1,000, 350 and 150 employees respectively. Nearly 1,400 jobs would therefore be at stake.
For his part, guest on the program Dimanche en politique on France 3 this November 3, Fabien Roussel already seemed well informed. The national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF) explained: “You will see. In the coming days, Michelin will announce the closure of factories in Cholet with 1,000 jobs affected and in Vannes, with 350 to 400 jobs affected”.
“The company has been mobilized for months”
For the moment, the Michelin group has refused to make any comments on Fabien Roussel's assertions, therefore sending a response to November 9 at the latest. “The company has been mobilized for months on these sites which are experiencing structural difficulties” the company still clarified.
The Vannes and Joué-les-Tours sites manufacture components for tires. More precisely, tire reinforcement cables in the case of the Breton factory, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year. As a reminder, Michelin already announced around a year ago the closure of two factories in Germany specializing in truck tires. Now we just have to wait for the days to come, obviously hoping for as few job cuts as possible.
