Michelin

This article is about the Michelin company. For its restaurant guide and the stars awarded by it, see Michelin Guide.
Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin SCA
Société en commandite par actions
Traded as Euronext: ML
Industry Auto and truck parts
Founded 28 May 1889 (1889-05-28)
Headquarters Clermont-Ferrand, France
Key people
 Jean-Dominique Senard
(General partner and CEO)
Michel Rollier
(chairman of the supervisory board)
Products Tires, travel assistance services
Revenue €21.47 billion (2012)[1]
€2.469 billion (2012)[1]
Profit €1.571 billion (2012)[1]
Total assets €21.58 billion (end 2012)[1]
Total equity €8.501 billion (end 2012)[1]
Number of employees
 111,200 (end 2013)[2]
Website michelin.com

Michelin (/ˈmɪʃəlɪn/ or /ˈmɪtʃəlɪn/; French pronunciation: ​[miʃˈlɛ̃]; full name: SCA Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin) is a French tire manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the three largest tire manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone and Goodyear.[3] In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Tigar, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal (in North America) tire brands. Michelin is also notable for its Red and Green travel guides, its roadmaps, the Michelin stars that the Red Guide awards to restaurants for their cooking, and for its company mascot Bibendum, colloquially known as the Michelin Man.

Michelin's numerous inventions include the removable tire, the pneurail (a tire for trains made to run on rails) and the radial tire.

Tires and wheels

Michelin manufactures tires for space shuttles,[4] aircraft, automobiles, heavy equipment, motorcycles, and bicycles. In 2012, the Group produced 166 million tires at 69 facilities located in 18 countries.[5]

History

An 1898 poster by "O'Galop" of Bibendum, the Michelin Man
Michelin, advertising, Australia, 1922
Demonstration of the Michelin so called car-train with rubber tires in the Netherlands in 1932
c. 1965–1970, view of old fashioned Michelin omnibus and two michelin men with bystanders behind Charles Rolls statue, Monmouth, Wales.

In 1889 two brothers, Édouard Michelin and André Michelin, ran a rubber factory in Clermont-Ferrand, France. One day, a cyclist whose pneumatic tire needed repair turned up at the factory. The tire was glued to the rim, and it took over three hours to remove and repair the tire, which then needed to be left overnight to dry. The next day, Édouard Michelin took the repaired bicycle into the factory yard to test. After only a few hundred metres, the tire failed. Despite the setback, Édouard was enthusiastic about the pneumatic tire, and he and his brother worked on creating their own version, one that did not need to be glued to the rim. Michelin was incorporated on 28 May 1889. In 1891 Michelin took out its first patent for a removable pneumatic tire which was used by Charles Terront to win the world's first long distance cycle race, the 1891 Paris–Brest–Paris.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Michelin operated large rubber plantations in Vietnam. Conditions at these plantations led to the famous labour movement Phu Rieng Do.[6]

"French Indochina – The French community of about 40,000 lived in the European quarters, – for the mass of the population the reality was forced labour – working to produce the colony's exports of rice, tin, tea, and above all – rubber – the source of the fortune of the Michelin company."[7]

In 1934, Michelin introduced a tire which, if punctured, would run on a special foam lining; a design now known as a run-flat tire (self-supporting type).

Michelin developed and patented a key innovation in tire history, the 1946 radial tire, and successfully exploited this technological innovation to become one of the worlds leading tire manufacturers.[8] The radial was initially marketed as the "X" tire.[9] It was developed with the front-wheel-drive Citroën Traction Avant and Citroën 2CV in mind. Michelin had bought the then-bankrupt Citroën in the 1930s. Because of its superiority in handling and fuel economy, use of this tire quickly spread throughout Europe and Asia.[8] In the U.S., the outdated bias-ply tire persisted, with market share of 87% in 1967.[8]

In 1968, Michelin opened its first North American sales office, and was able to grow that market for its products rapidly; by 1989 the company had 10% market share for OEM tires purchased by American automobile makers.[10]

Also in 1968, Consumer Reports, an influential American magazine, acknowledged the superiority of the radial construction, setting off a rapid decline in Michelin's competitor technology.[11] In the U.S., the radial tire now has a market share of 100%.[8]

In addition to the private label and replacement tire market, Michelin scored an early OEM tire win in North America, when it received the contract for the 1970 Lincoln Continental Mark III, the first American car with radial tires fitted as standard.[12]

In 1989, Michelin acquired the recently merged tire and rubber manufacturing divisions of the American firms B.F. Goodrich Company (founded in 1870) and Uniroyal, Inc. (founded in 1892 as the United States Rubber Company).[10] Uniroyal Australia had already been bought by Bridgestone in 1980. This purchase included the Norwood, North Carolina manufacturing plant which supplied tires to the U.S. Space Shuttle Program.[13][14]

Michelin also controls 90% of Taurus Tire in Hungary, as well as Kormoran,[15] a Polish brand.

As of 1 September 2008, Michelin is again the world's largest tire manufacturer after spending two years as number two behind Bridgestone.[16] Michelin produces tires in France, Spain, Germany, the USA, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Japan, Italy and several other countries. On 15 January 2010, Michelin[17] announced the closing of its Ota, Japan plant, which employs 380 workers and makes the Michelin X-Ice tire. Production of the X-Ice will be moved to Europe, North America, and elsewhere in Asia.[18]

Michelin tire plant in Waterville, Nova Scotia

Motorsport

Michelin is the official tire supplier of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars used in the Porsche Carrera Cup and the Porsche Supercup.

MotoGP

Michelin participated in MotoGP from 1972 to 2008. They introduced radial construction to MotoGP in 1984, and multi-compound tires in 1994. They achieved 360 victories in 36 years, and from 1993 to 2006, the world championship had gone to a rider on Michelins.

In 2007, Casey Stoner on Bridgestone tires won the world championship in dominating fashion, and Valentino Rossi and other top riders complained that Michelins were inferior. Rossi wanted Bridgestones for the 2008 season, but Bridgestone was reluctant to provide them; Dorna threatened to impose a control tire on the series, after which Bridgestone relented.

In 2008, Michelin's tires continued to be perceived as being inferior to Bridgestone's, and Michelin committed errors of judgment in allocating adequate tires for some of the race weekends. Dani Pedrosa's team switched to Bridgestones in the midst of the season, a highly unusual move that caused friction between Honda Racing Corporation and their sponsor Repsol YPF. Other riders also expressed concerns and it seemed that Michelin might not have any factory riders for the 2009 season, leading to rumours that Michelin would withdraw from the series altogether. Dorna and the FIM announced that a control tire would be imposed on MotoGP for the 2009 season and Michelin did not enter a bid, effectively ending its participation in the series at the end of 2008.[19][20][21][22] Michelin have returned to MotoGP in 2016 as official tire supplier after Bridgestone's withdrawal from the series at the end of the 2015.

Formula One

Michelin first competed in the 1977 Formula One season, when Renault started development of their turbocharged F1 car. Michelin introduced radial tire technology to Formula One and won the Formula One Drivers' Championship with Brabham and McLaren, before withdrawing at the end of 1984.

The company returned to Formula One in 2001, supplying the Williams, Jaguar, Benetton (renamed Renault in 2002), Prost and Minardi teams. Toyota joined F1 in 2002 with Michelin tires, and McLaren also signed up with the company. Michelin tires were initially uncompetitive but by the 2005 season were totally dominant. This was partly because the new regulations stated that tires must last the whole race distance (and qualifying), and partly because only one top team (Ferrari) was running Bridgestones, and so had to do much of the development work. Michelin in contrast had much more testing and race data provided by the larger number of teams running their tires.

Following the debacle of the 2005 United States Grand Prix where, because of safety concerns, Michelin would not allow the teams it supplies to race, Michelin's share price fell by 2.5% (though it recovered later the same day). On 28 June, Michelin announced that it would offer compensation to all race fans who had bought tickets for the Grand Prix. The company committed to refunding the price of all tickets for the race. Additionally, it announced that it would provide 20,000 complimentary tickets for the 2006 race to spectators who had attended the 2005 event.

Michelin has had a difficult relationship with the sport's governing body (the FIA) since around 2003, and this escalated to apparent disdain between the two parties during the 2005 season. The most high-profile disagreement was at the United States Grand Prix and the acrimony afterwards. Michelin criticised the FIA's intention to move to a single source (i.e. one brand) tire from 2008, and threatened to withdraw from the sport. In a public rebuke FIA President Max Mosley wrote "There are simple arguments for a single tire, and if [Michelin boss Édouard Michelin] is not aware of this, he shows an almost comical lack of knowledge of modern Formula One". Another bone of contention has been the reintroduction of tire changes during pit-stops from 2006. Michelin criticised the move claiming "this event illustrates F1's problems of incoherent decision-making and lack of transparency".

In December 2005, and as a result of the difficult relationship with the sport's governing body, Michelin announced that it would not extend its involvement in Formula One beyond the 2006 season.[23] Bridgestone was then the sole supplier of tires to Formula One until the end of the 2010 season, with Pirelli providing tires for 2011.

The last race won on Michelin tires in Formula One was the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso benefitting after the Ferrari engine of Michael Schumacher failed during the race. This gave Michelin a second consecutive Constructors' Championship win, with the 2005 and 2006, after Bridgestone's seven-year winning streak, and brought to a total of four the number of titles for Michelin since this championship's inception back in the 1958 Formula One season; Michelin's other titles were in the 1979, and 1984 seasons.

Endurance racing

Michelin is involved in endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the American Le Mans Series. In 2009 Michelin supplied tires for 41 of the 55 cars entered in Le Mans.[24] In 2016 they provide the Audi, Porsche and Toyota LMP1 teams, as well as the AF Corse, BMW, Corvette, Ford Ganassi, Porsche and Risi teams in GTE-Pro / GTLM.

Michelin has also supplied tires in the European Le Mans Series. The company is exclusive supplier of LMP3 since 2015.

Rallying

In the World Rally Championship, Michelin has been supplier of the Audi, Citroën, Ford, Lancia, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Toyota and Volkswagen factory teams. Michelin Group brand BFGoodrich represented the brand in 2006 and 2007. The company was absent from 2008 to 2010, when Pirelli was signed as exclusive supplier.

Recent developments

Active Wheel

Main article: Active Wheel

Active Wheel from Michelin includes in-wheel electric motors and a motorised suspension to free up space in the front or rear of the vehicle. This model also eliminates the need for other notorious space hogs like transmissions and exhaust systems. The wheels already have a vehicle ready to receive them, the Heuliez Will from Opel, and are also expected to come standard on the Venturi Volage sometime in 2012.[25]

Other products

Michellin map nr 4 (South Belgium) of 1940

Tire retailer

Tire retail in Europe with Euromaster and in the US with its wholly owned subsidiary TCI Tire Centers.[26]

Tour guides

Main article: Michelin Guide

Michelin has long published two guidebook series, the Red Guides to hotels and restaurants, and the Green Guides for tourism. It now publishes several additional guides, as well as digital map and guide products. The city maps in both the Red and the Green guides are of high quality, and are linked to the smaller-scale road maps.

Maps

Michelin publishes a variety of road maps, mostly of France but also of other European countries, Africa, Thailand and the United States. They have recently embarked in e-commerce selling Michelin maps and guides directly to the public through, for example, their UK website.[27] The Michelin roadmaps were reproduced in England for the Allied invasion during World War II. The Germans also reproduced in 1940 the 1938 edition Michelin maps for the invasion.[28]

Online mapping

ViaMichelin is a wholly owned subsidiary of Michelin Group, and was started in 2001, to represent Michelin's digital mapping services. As of August 2008, ViaMichelin generates 400 million maps and routes per month on its main website.[29]

ViaMichelin provides mapping and travel solutions for internet, mobile and satellite navigation products with street level coverage of Europe, USA, Australia, and parts of Asia and South America.

Michelin Challenge Bibendum

The Michelin Challenge Bibendum is an annual major sustainable mobility event.

Michelin Truck and Bus

The Michelin PLR, a 1972 mobile tire evaluation machine, based on the Citroen DS Break

In 1952, 6 years after Michelin patented its Radial Casing, Michelin adapted the radial technology to truck tires.[30]

Management

Michelin North America headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina, United States.

From 1999, the company was headed by CEO Édouard Michelin. On 26 May 2006, Édouard drowned while fishing near the island of Sein, off the coast of Brittany.[31] His death brought Michel Rollier, a 2nd cousin of Édouard Michelin, to the head of the company. Rollier was replaced in May 2012 by Jean-Dominique Senard.[32]

Executive committee

See also

References

Michelin Maps Italy List Details of Michelin Maps Italy

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Annual Results 2012" (PDF). Michelin. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "Michelin in the world". Michelin.com.
  3. ↑ Cronin Fisk, Margaret; O'Reilly, Cary (10 September 2009). "Michelin Loses $12 Million Verdict in Suit Over Crash". Bloomberg. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  4. ↑ Chapelcornertyres.com
  5. ↑ Staff (6 May 2013). "Global 2000". Forbes (Paper). p. 17.
  6. ↑ Solheim, B: The Vietnam War Era: A Personal Journey, page 11, Praeger Publishers, 2006. (See Google Books.)
  7. ↑ Julian Jackson, BBC Radio Three, The Other Empire, episode 4/5 first broadcast 15 September 2011
  8. 1 2 3 4 http://www.jags.org/TechInfo/2001/05May01/tires/historyoftires.htm
  9. ↑ Travaux de la commission des finances
  10. 1 2 JONATHAN P. HICKS (23 September 1989). "Michelin to Acquire Uniroyal Goodrich". New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "A Tale of Two Tires". Bloomberg.
  12. ↑ Aaron Severson (12 September 2009). "Mark of Success: The Lincoln Continental Mark Series". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  13. ↑ Karen Barber, "Goodrich Expects to Sell Norwood Plant to Michelin", The Charlotte Observer, 12 October 1988.
  14. ↑ "Michelin North America has been the sole tire supplier for the space shuttle program from the first launch in 1981". Greenville News. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  15. ↑ "Kormoran". oponeo.co.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  16. ↑ "Michelin Becomes World's Largest Tire Maker Again: Overtakes Bridgestone by slim margin", Autoindustriya.com (10 September 2008).
  17. ↑ "Michelin". Vanzarianvelope.net. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  18. ↑ Michelin.com
  19. ↑ "A Fond Farewell". Michelin.com. 26 October 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  20. ↑ Noyes, Dennis (3 October 2007). "Why Dorna is Threatening to Impose a Spec Tire". Speed (TV channel). Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  21. ↑ Noyes, Dennis (26 August 2008). "Michelin's Last Stand (Part I)". Speed (TV channel). Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  22. ↑ Noyes, Dennis (27 August 2008). "Michelin's Last Stand (Part II)". Speed. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  23. ↑ F1 News – Michelin will not extend its Formula One involvement beyond the 2006 season – Michelin – 14 December 2005
  24. ↑ Considine, Tim (March 2010). "Lessons Learned!". Road & Track. 61 (7): 86.
  25. ↑ Gizmodo.com
  26. ↑ "TCI® Tire Centers :: Contact Us". tirecenters.com. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  27. ↑ Michelin.co.uk
  28. ↑ "The Michelin maps of the Second World War"
  29. ↑ ViaMichelin: street map, maps, map UK, route finder, route planner, directions, road map, route map
  30. ↑ Michelin Truck and Bus Information
  31. ↑ Associated Press, "Édouard Michelin, 42, Tire Executive, Is Dead", The New York Times (27 May 2006).
  32. ↑ Galloni, Alessandra; Carreyrou, John (27 May 2006). "Michelin Scion Dies; Firm's Reins Leave Family". The Wall Street Journal.
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