The French tire manufacturer Michelin announced Thursday the closure by 2028 of its BFGoodrich factory in Tuscaloosa (Alabama), in the United States, which employs around 1,200 people but which is operating at low capacity.
The operation will result in a provision of approximately 220 million euros for charges which will be included in the company’s consolidated financial results for the year 2026. This provision is due to the costs of closing the factory, including possible charges linked to the departure of employees.
“Michelin is committed to individualized support” for employees, “the conditions will be negotiated with the unions,” indicated the group.
According to the equipment manufacturer, the two American factories of BFGoodrich, a brand bought in the 1990s by Michelin, are currently operating “well below their capacities”. This underutilization generates “structural inefficiencies that are unsustainable in the long term,” the French group justified.
Production from this factory will be almost entirely transferred to the group’s other American factory, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Michelin said in a press release. This should make it possible to “create a more efficient industrial structure”, according to the group.
The reduction in activity in Tuscaloosa will be carried out “in phases” from 2027, to be completed definitively at the end of 2028, Michelin predicts.
