Michelin will close its factories in Vannes and Cholet, 1,254 jobs affected

Michelin employees had been fearing this announcement for several weeks. The factories in Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) and Vannes (Morbihan) will close by 2026, the French tire group announced this Tuesday morning. 1,254 employees are affected.

The large Cholet factory employs 955 people and mainly manufactures small tires for light trucks (17 inches and less). The Vannes site has 299 employees who mainly produce metal cables for tires then manufactured in Spain and Italy in particular.

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Strong competition from Asia

The Michelin group is going through a difficult year with the slowdown in the new vehicle market and Asian competition. “It was the collapse of activity that caused this situation,” said Michelin CEO Florent Menegaux. “The circumstances of the European tire market – heavy goods vehicles on the one hand, and vans – mean that we do not see how we could reload these sites structurally in the medium and long term,” explained Florent Menegaux. The closure has become “inevitable” due to Asian competition in van and heavy goods vehicle tires, the sectors of the two factories. The CEO of Michelin also blames a “slow deterioration of competitiveness” in Europe which prevents exports from this continent. The group is also preparing the closure of two factories in Germany by 2025.

“No one at the side of the road”

“I want to tell all these employees that we will not leave anyone behind,” promises the Michelin CEO. The group undertakes to “support each of the employees concerned with tailor-made solutions”, with job offers in other companies or in the group, or even early retirement. It “will also support the two impacted territories by participating in the creation of at least as many jobs as those eliminated,” he promised.

The group's union, which was worried about the future of several French sites, had recently broken off discussions with management. Michelin, however, intends to propose to the unions a “Michelin Industry France 2030” plan, which should allow “French sites and their employees to better plan for the future”.

Six factories closed for 20 years in France

Michelin has already significantly reduced its presence in France with the closure of six factories over the past 20 years in Poitiers, Toul, Joué-lès-Tours and La-Roche-sur-Yon. The group had also announced a plan to cut 2,300 jobs in France in 2021. Once the Cholet and Vannes sites are closed in 2026, Michelin will only have 18,000 employees there, including 8,000 in industry.