If the first half of 2023 was defined by North American investments, the second half of the year has involved more efforts to streamline operations, in North America and beyond.
In October, Michelin announced plans to end tire manufacturing at its 53-year-old passenger car tire plant in Ardmore, Okla., by the end of 2025. It's a move that will impact as many as 1,400 employees.
The company intends to gradually wind down operations there, completing the closure in phases throughout 2024 and into 2025, as it moves production to other North American facilities. The Ardmore plant has a rated capacity of 23,000 units per day.
Michelin plans to maintain Ardmore's rubber mixing operations, which supplies other factories throughout North America.
Ultimately, it was the changing North American tire market that led to the decision to close the plant. Michelin said the transition to larger tires and electric vehicles as well as the need for tires with improved rolling resistance and more sustainable materials made it economically unfeasible to continue operating the facility.
The plant is one of Michelin's five U.S. factories. The others are in Fort Wayne, Ind.; Greenville and Lexington, S.C.; and Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Weeks after the Ardmore closing was announced, Michelin said it planned to shut down plants in Karlsruhe and Trier, Germany, by the end of 2025, moves that would impact another 1,400 workers.
It also said it will phase out truck tire and semi-finished product production in Homburg, Germany. Its truck tire retreading and related operations are expected to continue.
The Karlsruhe plant manufactures tires for small and medium-sized trucks and semi-finished products.
The two German plants have a combined capacity between 4,000 and 5,000 tires per day.
The Trier plant, meanwhile, employs 88 in the production of bead cores for passenger tires.
Michelin's remaining factory in Germany, a passenger tire plant in Bad Kreuznach, will not be affected by these cost-cutting measures.