Continental to close tyre plants

Faced with falling demand, the German car parts company Continental plans to cut nearly 1,900 jobs. It will stop producing tyres at two of its European sites – one in Germany and the other in France. Continental said it has chosen the two plants with the highest costs.

They are Clairoix in northern France, which turns out eight million car tyres annually, and a facility at Hanover which makes 1.4 million commercial vehicle tyres each year. The plants will close by March of next year. Car and truck makers orders are down by 15 percent and the replacement tyre market by 30 percent. Continental has said it does not see demand recovering in the mid-term as recession hit European car makers plan production cuts of 25 percent this year.

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