French tire manufacturer Michelin is responding to rising production costs and competition from low-wage countries with extensive job losses in Germany. The company will cease production at the Karlsruhe and Trier locations at the end of 2025, as well as the production of new truck tires and semi-finished products in Homburg.
A total of 1,410 employees are affected by the closures. The customer center is being moved from Karlsruhe to Poland – this will affect a further 122 employees.
The competitive position is declining, production is under pressure
Michelin cited imports of cheap truck tires from low-wage countries and rising production costs as reasons for the job cuts, which put pressure on the company, shrinking market shares and reducing competitiveness.
Job losses ‘wrong’
The German IG BCE “does not want to accept the job losses and factory closures so easily”. These are wrong. “Michelin only wants to maximize profits and is letting go of very dedicated and highly qualified employees to achieve this,” said the union’s business manager, Matthias Hille. “We are not giving up on the locations and will continue to work on alternative concepts.”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
