Michelin to close 2 French plants, cut over 1,200 employees

CLERMONT-FERRAND, France—Michelin will close its Cholet and Vannes production plants in France by early 2026, a move that will cost 1,254 employees their jobs.

"The decision had become unavoidable," the tire maker said in a Nov. 5 statement, citing the "structural transformation" of the passenger/light truck and truck tire markets, as well as the "worsening competitiveness of Europe, notably due to inflation and rising energy prices."

Over the past 10 years, Michelin said, the market has trended toward low-cost tires, mainly from Asia, with entry-level P/LT and truck tires increasing by 9 and 11 points, respectively. Because of this, Michelin has reported production overcapacity at some of its P/LT and truck tire plants in Europe.

Michelin said it will provide support to impacted employees as well as the Cholet and Vannes communities.

For its employees, the company has halted production at the two facilities through Nov. 11 to give management and unions "time to propose collective and individual discussions with employees."

As for the surrounding communities, Michelin said it is "actively contributing to the creation of at least as many jobs of the same kind locally," noting it will mobilize its Michelin Development program.

The Cholet plant currently employs 955 people and mainly manufactures 17-inch and smaller light truck tires, according to Michelin, which represents 85 percent of the facility's operations.

Michelin's Vannes plant employs 299 people and mostly produces metal reinforcements—such as cables and handling all steps in the manufacturing process. Its products are used to manufacture light truck and passenger tires in Michelin's customer sites in Spain, Italy and the rest of Europe.

"In recent years, the light truck segment has contracted significantly in Europe, with major impact on the Cholet plant's production volumes, which fell from around 4.38 million (metric tons) to around 2.27 million in 2024," Michelin said.

The tire maker added that production volumes at the Vannes plant also have been continuously falling, "notably due to changes in demand from the group's truck tire plants in Europe." Output, it added, has fallen from 41,000 tons in 2019 to the projected 34,000 tons for 2024.

Both, Michelin said, are trends "with no prospects of recovery."

These closures follow the tire maker's decision last fall to close its TBR plants in Karlsruhe and Hamburg, Germany, as well as a tooling facility in Trier, impacting 1,530 employees. The tire maker also announced last fall the closure of its Ardmore, Okla., facility, impacting another 1,400 employees. All closures are expected to be complete by year-end 2025.

The closures, according to Michelin, are part of a broader investment plan, where the tire maker is working to build a more balanced portfolio.

In the spring, Michelin outlined plans to also cease TBR production at its plants in Shenyang, China, and Olsztyn, Poland, and end steel cord re-enforcement in Shanghai, converting the three plants to produce passenger vehicle tires.

As a result of the Cholet and Vannes plant closures, Michelin anticipates recording a provision of about $354 million (€330 million) in consolidated financial results for 2024.

Following the announcement of plant closures, trade union CGT called for Michelin workers to strike and accused the tire maker of "sacrificing more than 1,400 jobs on the altar of profits."

"By announcing the closure of the Cholet and Vannes plants, Michelin is continuing its war against all the group's employees and subcontractors," CGT said in its Nov. 5 statement.

Another trade union, the CFDT, called on Michelin to consider alternatives to closing the plants, noting the closures "will also impact subcontracting companies, and more broadly the local industrial fabric of Vannes and Cholet."

"The CFDT and its representatives have been warning for years about the industrial situation of the group, questioning the strategy that is now leading to these unbearable decisions," the CFDT said in its Nov. 5 press release. "For the FCE-CFDT, any solution other than the closure of sites must be considered; and the group's strategy in the short, medium and long term must be reviewed because it is now leading to drastic decisions and worrying future prospects."

In an Oct. 10 report, CGT raised concerns about the declining production volumes at Michelin's Cholet and Vannes plants, in addition to its Joue-les-Tour plant.

The union, citing a commissioned report by accountancy firm Secafi, reported that production at the group's French facilities have more than halved over the last 12 years. And most recently, Michelin's France-based operations saw a 3.2-percent year-over-year decline in volumes in 2022, following a 13-percent year-over-year fall in 2023.

CGT noted particular concern for a projected 40-percent decline in light vehicle tires at Cholet by 2025 from 2019 and a likely 60-percent loss in volume at the site's Z mixing workshop over the same period.

Vannes, CGT said, was projected to lose 40 percent of production between 2021 and 2025, and the Joue-les-Tours plant has lost more than half of its fabric production since 2017.

According to the CGT report, the three Michelin sites received significant cost-saving efforts, including staff reductions between 2019 and 2024 by 28 percent at both Vannes and Cholet and 35 percent at Joue-les-Tours—a combined total of 565 people.

The trade union had stressed an "urgent need" for the tire maker's management to address the declining production volumes at the sites and called for the introduction of new industrial models, including "smaller, more flexible factories."

In its announcement of the two plant closures, Michelin also reaffirmed France as a "core and strategic country" for the tire maker, noting it employs nearly 19,000 people in the country, including 9,000 in manufacturing across 15 production plants.

"Even with the Cholet and Vannes production close-down, France will remain the group's first industrial country in Europe, in both the number of sites and employees," Michelin said.

It added that, in addition to pursuing continued investments in France, the country is where Michelin is "more particularly implementing" its Michelin in Motion 2030 strategy, first presented in 2021, which is designed to implement "a wide range of ultra-high value-added activities in the country."

"Over the past 10 years, Michelin has invested more than €2.6 billion ($2.8 billion) in France," the tire maker said, noting about $1.6 billion of this supported the modernization of production sites through digitization, environmental policies, ongoing training and improved quality of work life.

The company also boasted its approximately $322 million revitalization of its former Cataroux production site as proof of its investments in France, which it said could "lead to creating 1,000 new jobs by 2030, specifically in state-of-the-art training for manufacturing crafts and in future biomaterials.

"Michelin's ambition is to build strong manufacturing in France," it added. "As such, the company will continue the work toward it. This is why Michelin offers the unions to work on creating the conditions to allow its sites and employees in France to better project toward the future."

Michelin is the world's No. 1 tire maker with 2023 tire revenue of $27.5 billion, according to the 2024 Global Tire Report.

European Rubber Journal contributed to this report.