Michelin Group will close a 47-year-old tire plant in Dundee, Scotland, by mid-2020. The factory produces consumer tires — 16 inches and smaller — and the company says the market's accelerated adoption of larger tires has made the plant unsustainable.
Michelin calls the switch to larger tires "a profound transformation of the car parc," and says even though the company has tried to adapt the plant, spending 70 million euros in recent years, its full conversion isn't a viable option.
The United Kingdom tire plant employs 845 people.
Michelin says its truck tire retreading business, as well as sales and distribution of all its products and services in the UK will continue.
To finance this operation, the Michelin Group will record a provision of approximately 155 million euros in non-recurring expenses in its consolidated financial statements as of Dec. 31, 2018.
