Tire maker Michelin announces plant closure in central Mexico

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Tire maker Michelin will close a plant in the state of Queretaro in central Mexico by the end of this year, the company announced on Monday.

The decision was a "last resort," prompted by changes in the passenger car and light truck tire market, the company said, adding that it affects 480 employees will be affected.

"The Queretaro plant will be closed because it has become obsolete, as it is configured to produce smaller tires, while the market has evolved toward larger rims and tires," a representative for the company said.

The Queretaro plant is the older of Michelin's two plants in Mexico. A second plant in the city of Leon, Guanajuato, has operated since 2016 and is one of the company's most modern plants globally, the company representative said.

Michelin's corporate operations will remain in Queretaro, while production continues out of Leon, the representative said.

(Reporting by Raul Cortes and Noe Torres; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher and Brendan O'Boyle; editing by Kylie Madry)