Storm, tire companies close factories, lay off employees, and cut wages

In the past two years, the tire industry has been highly competitive, especially in the overseas tire market. Many tire companies can no longer hold on, and some have closed factories, laid off employees, or cut wages!

01 Bridgestone Argentina lays off employees
Recently, Bridgestone Argentina announced a new round of layoffs at its plant in Buenos Aires. "Business and the market are challenging, and the outlook for 2025 looks even more severe," Bridgestone said in a statement.

According to a statement from Bridgestone on January 17, 2025, cost-reduction measures include cuts in corporate, sales and manufacturing labor throughout the Americas. The exact number of employees affected by the layoffs will be determined after talks. The tire manufacturer submitted a preliminary plan in mid-2024, through which 450 employees were fired to address the reduction in overseas markets and declining productivity.

02 Bridgestone's US factory layoffs
At the same time, the Bridgestone tire plant in Des Moines, USA, also started layoffs due to market pressure. On January 6, the plant issued resignation notices to 130 employees and offered voluntary resignation options, while promising to give $35,000 (about RMB 256,700) in severance pay. This move deeply reflects the severe challenges facing the current agricultural tire market.

Bridgestone Des Moines Tire Plant has an important position in the industry and focuses on the production of agricultural tires. However, due to the continued downturn in the local agricultural market, the operation of the factory has been severely impacted. Faced with the market's cold winter, the factory management asked employees to decide whether to accept the voluntary resignation plan before January 31. The layoffs involve a wide range of employees, and all employees except those in the maintenance and power generation departments are eligible to choose.

03 Yokohama closes the factory
Recently, Yokohama announced plans to close its Prague plant in the Czech Republic in June 2025. After the factory is closed, production capacity will be transferred to other factories 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.

04 Continental Ecuador Plant Operation Adjustment
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 from January 2025, the work schedule of the Cuenca plant will be greatly reduced, from the original seven-day high-intensity production mode to a five-day work week, and weekend production activities will be completely stopped.

This adjustment is not a unilateral decision of Continental, but is based on a collective agreement reached with the union. The deep-seated reason behind it is that the factory has encountered many severe challenges during its operation. In recent years, market demand has shown a clear downward trend, which has directly led to a sharp decline in the capacity utilization rate of the Cuenca plant, which has only remained at a low level of 55%. In this case, in order to quickly adapt to market changes, Continental has to take decisive measures to reduce operating costs and maintain the survival and development of the company.

05 Goodyear's global structural adjustment measures
Goodyear is also actively promoting the adjustment of its internal personnel organizational structure. As an important part of Goodyear's forward transformation plan, the company expects to save $100 million in expenses by cutting about 1,200 jobs in 2025. The implementation of this plan aims to optimize the company's personnel structure and improve operational efficiency to adapt to market changes and competition needs.

In addition, as early as the first half of 2024, Goodyear announced that it would stop operating its Malaysian factory. Behind this decision is the bleak operating conditions of the factory, which has been losing money for six consecutive years since 2017. The closure of the factory began to be gradually promoted on June 30, and it is expected to completely stop operations by December 31. The closure will directly affect 550 positions. These measures of Goodyear show its major adjustments in its global market layout, and are also a helpless move to get rid of its operating difficulties and seek new development paths.

The global tire industry is in a critical period of transformation. The adjustments made by international tire giants reflect the difficulties faced by the traditional market. In future development, all companies need to constantly adapt to market changes, strengthen technological innovation and market expansion, so as not to be eliminated by the market in the fierce global competition.