Traveling to the ASN factory in Calais, the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry reacted to the social plans announced by the two groups.
A few days after the doliprane case, Antoine Armand was faced with an earthquake in the French industrial landscape. Tuesday morning, the management of the French tire giant Michelin announced the closure of two sites in the west of France while the distributor Auchan presented a draft social plan threatening nearly 2,400 jobs in France.
“In both cases, the companies have announced job protection plans and site eliminations which are extremely worrying,” underlined the boss of Bercy on the sidelines of a trip to Calais, where he took note of the purchase by the State of 80% of the submarine cable manufacturer ASN.
“On Michelin, I regret the decision that was announced and the State will be extremely vigilant on two points: the reclassification of all employees with an individual proposal and the search for a buyer,” he said. he continued.
On the subject of Auchan, he mentioned “the competitive environment that the company experiences” and which can be the source of “expected movements” while recalling that “the priority is obviously employment.”
Victims of competition
Michelin has announced 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 and the increase in prices. 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.
For its part, the distributor Auchan announced a restructuring of its activities in France with the planned elimination of 2,389 jobs, citing a constant drop in store traffic and a deterioration in its results. Since 2012, and before the integration of the Casino stores, Auchan indicates that it has seen its market share fall from 12.1% to 8% in an “ultra-competitive” context. The northern group presented its “reconquest” plan to the social partners, which notably provides for a resizing of hypermarkets and more attractive price positioning thanks to its alliance with Intermarché. But this alliance “will not be enough to generate the necessary margins to offer competitive prices. To get back into the game, Auchan must lower its costs and simplify its organization”, explains the group in a press release.
Timothée Talbi with Reuters
