Michelin jobs cut 10 percent in 3 years

Michelin has cut 1 in 10 North American jobs in the last three years through cost reductions, plant sales and outsourcing services, the French tire maker reported Tuesday.

About 1,200 Michelin jobs have been lost in South Carolina, a 13 percent decline that leaves 8,000 workers in the state. Workers at the Lexington tire plants were largely unaffected by the cuts, said Lynn Mann, spokeswoman at the company’s North American headquarters in Greenville.

Current employment at Lexington and other locations was not immediately available, she said.

Most of the 2,580 jobs eliminated in North America were through a $200 million, 2,000-job cost-reduction plan the company announced Sept. 10, 2001, that included about 800 jobs in South Carolina, Mann said.

The remaining jobs were lost as Michelin hired contractors to handle distribution centers and computer operations, and sold tire reinforcement fabric plants in Winnsboro and Scottsville, Va. The Fairfield County plant employed 183 people before it was sold Jan. 1.

Michelin officials can’t predict future job changes, but the company remains committed to the state, Mann said.

“We’ll continue to improve and to invest in the areas that have the highest return for our future, and that absolutely includes South Carolina,” she said.

Also on Tuesday, Michelin announced its profits fell 47 percent to $417 million, largely because of a $390 million write-off in assets from its acquisition of Viborg, a Danish distributor.

Excluding Viborg, operating margins were 7.7 percent, largely unchanged as higher productivity helped offset higher materials costs.

Sales fell 2 percent to $19.5 billion, while the company sold 4 percent more tires.

Reach DuPlessis at (803) 771-8305 or jduplessis@thestate.com