Crunch time for Goodyear-Dunlop's factories in Amiens

Geneva, Switzerland -- Art de Bok, head of Goodyear's European operations has said the company wants to invest up to $70 million in its Amiens plant to merge the two factories on the site and to improve flexibility and upgrade the equipment to make high performance tyres.

In exchange, the company is demanding cooperation from the workforce to improve productivity and cost per tyre. De Bok said the company is not seeking a pay cut, but is asking for longer working hours through a new shift pattern. He did not say if the company intends to adjust the headcount.

The alternative, said de Bok is to implement a social closure plan to reduce output. If that happens, he added, it is likely to be the start of a long, painful closure programme as the factory's cost position gradually deteriorates. The company said it prefers to keep a productive, efficient factory open in Amiens, but if it cannot make tyres there at the right cost, it will move production to more efficient factories in Eastern Europe or elsewhere.