From Staff & Wire Reports
CHARLOTTE, NC — Continental Tire North America (CTNA) announced yesterday that it is making a significant cut in tire production at its Charlotte, N.C., passenger and light truck/SUV tire plant, a move that will result in some 200-300 layoffs.
Effective July 1, Charlotte production will be cut from approximately 25,000 tires per day down to some 17,500 tires per day. CTNA said the cutback was due to “a substantial increase in inventory levels for certain passenger tire products and high process costs at the Charlotte plant.”
CTNA offered no date or information when full production might resume at the plant.
“Unfortunately, this was our only option, as Charlotte is the highest cost plant for Continental,” said Rick Ledsinger, CTNA’s vice president of human resources. “Although this reduction will impact many of our Charlotte employees, it is critical that Continental continues to make the changes necessary to be competitive in the U.S. tire market. We will do our utmost to assist our employees at this difficult time.”
CTNA said it would provide layoff benefits to hourly employees in accordance with its collective bargaining agreement with the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International (USW), and salaried employees will be provided with layoff benefits in accordance with applicable company policies.
CTNA said it would continue to produce tires in North America. However, CTNA has only one other passenger tire plant in North America; its Mt. Vernon, Ill., plant, opened in 1973, has a capacity of some 25,000 tire per day.
Production was “indefinitely suspended” at CTNA’s Mayfield, Ky., as of the end of 2004, after three prior production cutbacks at that plant.
CTNA’s only other fully owned plant is the Bryan, Ohio, OTR tire plant, which the company is trying to sell. CTNA is a partner, with Yokohama and Toyo, in the GTY Tire Co. joint venture truck plant in Mt. Vernon, Ill.
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