Michelin will close its factories in Vannes and Cholet, some 1,250 employees affected

“It is the collapse of activity that has caused this situation, and I want to tell all these employees that we will not leave anyone behind,” said the group’s CEO, Florent Menegaux, in an interview on Tuesday. to the AFP.

Michelin announced on Tuesday, November 5, the closure before 2026 of its factories in Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) and Vannes (Morbihan). In total, 1,254 employees work on these two sites. “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 the CEO of the tire manufacturer, Florent Menegaux, in an interview with AFP.

The closure became “inevitable” due to Asian competition on van and heavy goods vehicle tires, the sectors of the two factories, but also of the “deterioration of Europe’s competitiveness”wrote the management of the French group in a press release.

In a context of crisis for automotive equipment suppliers, the group is committed to “support each of the employees concerned with tailor-made solutions”with job offers in other companies or in the group, or by offering early retirement.

The large factory in Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) 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 (Morbihan) site has 299 employees who mainly produce metal cables for tires then manufactured in Spain and Italy in particular. The Breton factory has experienced a continuous decline in its production volumes “due in particular to the change in the level of demand from the group's heavy-duty factories in Europe (…) with no prospect of recovery”underlines Michelin.