The Michelin Troyes site celebrates 60 years marked by agricultural excellence

• The Troyes site is responsible for 40% of the Michelin Group’s production capacity of agricultural tires worldwide.
• The La Chapelle-Saint-Luc plant’s new road map should enable it to consolidate its positioning on its markets and within the Group.

Michelin is celebrating the 60^th anniversary of its Troyes industrial site, surrounded by the plant’s employees and a number of Michelin Group representatives, including Pierre-Louis Dubourdeau, a member of the Executive Committee and the Group’s Vice President of Manufacturing and Manuel Montana, a member of the Executive Committee and the Group’s Business Lines Director.

The event will also be attended by Cécile Dindar, Prefect of the Aube Department, Minister François Baroin, Mayor of Troyes, President of Troyes Champagne Metropole and former Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry, Congresspeople, Valérie Bazin-Malgras, Angélique Ranc and Jordan Guitton, Frank Leroy, President of the Grand Est Region, Philippe Pichery, President of the Aube Department and Olivier Girardin, Mayor of La Chapelle Saint-Luc.

The site, which employs 760 people, exports 85% of its production (66% to Europe and 29% to North America) and its clients include major manufacturers such as the CNH (Case, Steyr, New Holland) and AGCO Groups (Fendt, Challenger, Massey-Ferguson, Valtra), John Deere and CLAAS.

At the start of the 1960s, Kleber, whose main plant is located in Colombes in the Paris region, wished to expand and decided to open a site in Troyes due, in particular, to the proximity with its headquarters and its long-standing industrial prowess. In January 1963, France’s second Kleber site opened under the code name of UP2 and produced its first car and agricultural tires. The factory expanded quickly and just a few years later it employed more than 1,000 people. Faced with significant financial difficulties, Kleber was taken over by the Michelin Group in 1981. At the time, the Troyes plant employed more than 1,200 people. Becoming part of the Michelin Group gave it a new lease of life. In 1986, the site became the first Kleber plant to produce Michelin brand tires and in 1988, the rubber mixing department obtained a new machine. In 1996, the plant, which produced tires in 248 different sizes, actively participated in creating a range of agricultural products for the Group and developing Michelin’s new agrarian strategy.

The year 2000 represented a turning point in the history of the Troyes plant. Michelin announced a major restructuring plan to reduce the group’s industrial footprint in Europe and to specialize its plants. This plan validated the closure of the Troyes car tire production department, with the consequential loss of 450 out of 1,300 jobs.

In 2012, the Kleber factory became a Michelin brand factory in order to take advantage of all the Group’s industrial technology and to maintain its positioning on premium markets.

In November 2021, the Michelin Group announced a project for 2021-2026 to enable the factory to strengthen its positioning on the premium agricultural tire market. The project provided for a far-reaching modernization program for the tire production activity and the transfer of rubber mixing, which employed 114 people, to the Montceau-les-Mines site, without any forced departures. It was buoyed by a substantial investment plan of up to 80 million euros over 5 years, for modernizing the agricultural tire production department and enhancing quality of life at work.