(Corrects European truck-tyre market change in 7th paragraph)
* Michelin says price-mix wiped 242 mln euros from sales
* Operating income fell 13 pct to 1.15 billion euros
* Company reaffirms stable 2013 volume outlook
PARIS, July 25 (Reuters) - French tyremaker Michelin said first-half profit fell 42 percent as a weak European economy eroded pricing and restructuring costs weighed further on the bottom line.
Net income dropped to 507 million euros ($671 million) on sales of 10.16 billion, down 5.1 percent from the same period last year, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Michelin is pushing a 2 billion euro expansion in emerging markets such as China to offset the weak economic outlook and saturated vehicle markets at home. The tyremaker came under French government pressure last month to improve the terms of 730 job cuts at its Joué-lès-Tours plant.
Michelin's global workforce shrank by 1,500 employees over 12 months to 113,200 as of June 30.
The company, which counts on its namesake brand's relatively high prices to cover the fixed costs of its French plants, said weaker pricing accounted for 242 million euros of the first-half sales decline.
European car tyre demand fell 3-4 percent in the first half, hurt by the region's sluggish economy and a five-year slump in demand for new vehicles. Sales to U.S. carmakers were more buoyant, rising 4 percent.
Tyre sales to heavy truck manufacturers were little changed in Europe, where replacement demand rose 8 percent. Truck tyre sales rose in Asia and fell in North America.
Operating profit dropped 13 percent to 1.15 billion euros before one-time gains and charges, trimming Michelin's operating margin to 11.3 percent from 12.3 percent of sales.
The group reiterated its full-year outlook for stable sales volumes and said lower raw-material costs should boost profit by 350 million euros in the remainder of the year. The company took a 250 million euro charge for restructuring in the first half.
"Michelin's first-half performance was in line with the 2013 objectives and attests to the group's continuous improvement," Chief Executive Jean-Dominique Senard said in the statement. ($1 = 0.7555 euros) (Reporting by Laurence Frost; Editing by James Regan and David Goodman)