Rashmi Sacher 
Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone announced it would cut 546 jobs at its northern Spain factories, considering the challenging market conditions in Europe and increasing competition from non-European brands.
The factories that will be affected, located in Cantabria and the Basque Country, produce tires for tractors and farm vehicles, buses, and trucks. The layoffs were confirmed on Tuesday by the local union UGT, who stated that they, together with other unions, are planning a strike in response, although unspecified details have been communicated.
Bridgestone Hispania employs about 2,800 workers. The company invoked inflation, economic uncertainty, and regulatory changes as the main causes necessitating its actions to reduce production capacity.
This action reflects other troubles besetting the wider European tire industry, which faces the indirect effects of the dilemmas confronting the automotive industry. Last year, Michelin, Bridgestone’s French rival, too announced job cuts and closure of factories on the back of exorbitant costs and intensifying competition from Asian manufacturers.
With increasing production costs on the continent and a flood of cheaper imports, the scene for the tire makers is now looking grim.
