WOLVERHAMPTON, England—Goodyear plans to close a plant in England and move consumer tire production from a plant in Germany.
Akron-based Goodyear on Tuesday, June 23, approved plans to cut costs in its Europe, Middle East and Africa business unit, according to a June 25 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In the filing, the company said it plans to close its Wolverhampton-based mixing and retreading plant, moving that production to other plants in the EMEA business unit. The company also will move consumer tire production from Wittlich, Germany, to other plants in the region.
There are about 330 employees at the plant in Wolverhampton, the company said in a news release. The closure there is necessary to help Goodyear “strengthen its competitiveness in the face of a challenging business environment, increased competition and currency headwinds.”
The company said in a separate release that 120 jobs would be affected at the Wittlich plant. The other tire operations there would not be affected.
The plans are still “subject to consultation with relevant employee representative bodies,” according to the SEC filing. It is expected to result in a net reduction of about 360 to 390 jobs.
Goodyear said it expects these plans to be complete by the end of 2016, and it expects total charges to be between $70 million and $80 million. Once the plans are completed, they're expected to improve the segment's operating income by about $30 million annually, starting in 2017.