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Bridgestone plans to close factory in France
Bridgestone announces project to discontinue operations at its Bethune plant in France. Up to 863 employees could be affected.
Bridgestone plans to close factory in France
Bridgestone says it must respond to the challenging long-term development in the European passenger car tire market with structural measures to ensure the reduction of its production overcapacity and improve cost efficiency. After examining all potential options, the company announced during an extraordinary works council meeting its intention to cease all activities at the Bethune plant (France). This is the only possible way to ensure the competitiveness of Bridgestone's operations in Europe. The project could affect 863 employees. Bridgestone is fully aware of the social impact of the project and is committed to using all available means to put support plans in place for each employee.
The volume of the passenger tire market has stabilized in recent years (average annual growth < one percent), while competition from Asian low-cost brands continues to increase (increasing market share from six percent in 2000 to 25 percent in 2018), leading to general production overcapacity. This has led to pressure on prices and margins as well as overcapacity in the small rim diameter segment as demand in the LRD sector has declined. The Bridgestone factory in Bethune is the least well positioned and least competitive of the company's entire European presence - writes Bridgestone.