Michelin partners in Spanish wholesale joint venture

At around the same time that Michelin moved to acquire 100 per cent of German tyre wholesaler Ihle Baden-Baden, the company gained approval to enter the Spanish wholesale market. On 12 September 2014, the Spanish National Authority for Markets and Competition (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia) gave its approval for Euromaster Automoción y Servicios, S.A.U. and Rodi Metro, S.L., which operates the 150+ Rodi Motor Services retail network in Spain, to form a new wholesaling operation to distribute car and light commercial vehicle tyres within the country. Rodi says the wholesale operation has been set up as a 50/50 partnership.

The new operation, Nex Tyres SL, will begin trading at the start of 2015 and be led by Luis Miguel Muñoz Sánchez, who has been appointed its managing director. Prior to taking on this role he was employed by Tiresur S.L., joining the tyre wholesaler as managing director of the company’s operation in Granada in September 2008 and becoming managing director of its Center’s Auto Group dealer network in January 2010. He left the company in April 2014.