Overseas factories continue to lay off employees!

Recently, tire manufacturer Apollo is laying off 60 employees at its plant in Enschede. Reports show that Indian tire manufacturer Apollo Tyres is laying off about 60 employees at its Dutch plant in Enschede.

According to the person in charge, Apollo has noticed a sharp drop in demand in this field over the past five years. In order to reduce this overcapacity, 60 expiring fixed-term contracts will not be renewed. According to Apollo, these measures will not affect employees with long-term contracts. The plans have been discussed with the union, which, according to the person in charge, has given a positive evaluation of the plans.

According to Apollo, structural changes are currently underway. Apollo also believes that rising operating costs are a problem.

It is said that in Enschede, costs have risen sharply in the past four to five years: mainly due to rising wages and energy costs. In the past year or so, foreign tire giants have not had a good time. Tire business statistics show that in the past year, many foreign tire companies have faced different difficulties in closing factories, laying off employees, cutting wages, and reducing production.

Goodyear closes plant + layoffs
Foreign media reports show that Goodyear expects to lay off 850 people at its Danville plant as it plans to repurpose the truck and bus radial tire plant to produce aircraft tires.

Goodyear expects to basically complete the rationalization plan by the end of 2025 and estimates the total pre-tax costs associated with the move to be between $130 million and $140 million (125 million to 134 million euros). Goodyear expects these moves to increase operating income in its Americas division by $15 million in 2025 and $65 million annually thereafter. The Danville plant has been in operation since 1966 and has 2,000 employees. It is Goodyear's only plant in North America that produces aviation tires. Earlier, Goodyear had said it would close its Malaysian plant as part of a cost-cutting strategy, and the closure of the Malaysian plant would result in 550 workers losing their jobs.

Bridgestone closes plant + layoffs
Bridgestone Americas announced in a press release that it will close its truck and bus radial tire plant in Lavergne, Tennessee, and lay off 700 employees there.

In addition, Bridgestone also announced capacity and labor cuts at its agricultural tire plant in Des Moines, Iowa, as well as additional labor cuts in the U.S. corporate, sales and operations departments. In Latin America, Bridgestone plans to reduce the workforce and production capacity in Argentina and Brazil.

Yokohama closes multiple plants
In January 2025, Yokohama announced plans to close its Prague plant in the Czech Republic in June 2025. After the plant is closed, production capacity will be transferred to other plants within the group. It is understood that the Yokohama Prague plant produces agricultural tires. The plant has been in operation for more than 90 years and faces many problems such as inefficiency. At the same time, the Yokohama Mahaldai plant will cease operations on December 31, 2024.

Sumitomo to close 100-year-old factory, lay off 1,500 people
Foreign media reports show that Sumitomo, the largest manufacturing plant in Western New York, announced that they are preparing to close, which will eliminate 1,397 union and salaried jobs. The 100-year-old manufacturing plant is expected to be completely closed in May 2025.

Michelin will close several factories in 2025
A few months ago, Michelin announced that it would close two French factories and lay off 1,250 people. Michelin said that competition from cheap truck tires in 2025 forced it to restructure, including three factories in Germany.

Continental Tire Andina SA recently announced operational adjustments to its tire manufacturing plant in Cuenca, Ecuador. According to a statement released by Continental on January 7, starting in January 2025, the work schedule of the Cuenca plant will be significantly reduced, from the original high-intensity production mode of seven days a week to a five-day work week, and weekend production activities will be completely stopped. It is understood that after the implementation of the new work schedule, the income of 750 employees in the Cuenca plant will be reduced by 30%. Recently, there have been reports that Continental will close 4 factories.

Tonyo closes US factory
Tonyo Tire Company announced that they will close their production plant in the United States. This factory closure will affect more than 200 people.