Michelin closes its factories in Vannes and Cholet, 1,200 employees sacrificed

The news was dreaded. It is now official. Michelin announced on Tuesday that it would close its two factories in western France. The Vannes (Morbihan) and Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) sites will close “before 2026”. The shock is enormous for the employees. In total, 1,254 employees of the French tire manufacturer are affected. The reason given? The “collapse” of tire sales for trucks and vans.

Michelin is going through a difficult year with the slowdown in the new vehicle market and Asian competition. “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,” declared Michelin CEO Florent Menegaux.

The large Cholet factory employs 955 people and mainly manufactures small tires for light trucks (17 inches and less). This declining production will be taken over by the group's sites in Italy, Spain and Poland. The Vannes (Morbihan) site has 299 employees who mainly produce metal cables for tires then manufactured in Spain and Italy in particular.

Six factories closed in twenty years

Michelin had already significantly reduced its footprint in France, its first country: with Poitiers, Toul, Joué-lès-Tours and La-Roche-sur-Yon, it will have closed six factories in twenty years. The group had also announced a plan to cut 2,300 jobs in France in 2021: there will only be 18,000 employees after the closure of Cholet and Vannes, including 8,000 in industry.

The CEO of Michelin also blamed a “slow deterioration in competitiveness” in Europe which prevents exports from this continent. The group is also preparing the closure of two factories in Germany by 2025.

The tire giant is not the only one coughing: the sharp slowdown in the automobile market is causing serious difficulties for European equipment manufacturers, large and small, and site closures are continuing, such as at the rim manufacturer Impériales Wheels and Dumarey Powerglide gearboxes.