Goodyear Dunlop France, the French subsidiary of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., has received "no viable offers" for its tire factory in Amiens, according to reports, which added the French government has called on the company to take "exemplary" measures to accompany the plant’s 1,713 employees if a closure becomes inevitable.
Goodyear said three tiremakers and two investment firms had expressed interest in acquiring the factory, but no agreement was reached.
The French industry ministry has said that a total of 57 companies had been contacted to see if they were interested, but no binding offers had been made. It blamed the lack of interest partly on insufficient investments made by the Goodyear in the facility, as well as market share losses; the Amiens plant has been limping along for the past six years, with successive plans for layoffs rejected by French courts.