Tyre industry pioneers, Michelin has a long history. Having begun in 1889, Michelin is now the second-largest tyre manufacturer in the world after Bridgestone and larger than both Goodyear and Contineantal.
Michelin has shared a few key details about its new AgriBib Row Crop IF, a range of Improved Flexion tyres designed specifically for use on self-propelled and trailed sprayers and on low to medium horsepower row crop tractors from 70 to 180HP. According to the manufacturer, this newest addition to its agricultural tyre range offers farmers and contractors three major benefits.
At the unveiling of its ‘Michelin in Motion’ strategic plan on 8 April, the Michelin Group presented a strategy for 2030 that shows a determination to expand in non-tyre businesses. In this spirit of expansion beyond tyres, yesterday the company announced the signing of a Partnership Agreement with Altaris Capital Partners.
Automated vehicle inspection company ProovStation is adopting a Michelin technology in order to enhance its artificial intelligence-based car inspection solution. The addition of Michelin QuickScan will enable ProovStation to “check tyre wear automatically and instantaneously with millimetre precision.”
Groupe Michelin’s Capital Markets Day presentation, conducted via webcast on 8 April, set out its agenda for the next decade, putting its plans in front of leading global banks and financial firms. Circling around a central theme of sustainability, the group executive committee, led by managing chairman Florent Menegaux and general manager and chief financial officer Yves Chapot, showed how Michelin intends to “diversify while strengthening” in order to achieve its key economic and ecological targets. Chapot and Menegaux stated that expanding “non-tyre revenue” up to more than one-fifth of the group’s turnover by 2030 would make the group more agile and robust in the face of future crises. The current global health crisis has been instructive in this regard; the committee credited the development of the group’s non-tyre portfolio with assisting in its resilience over the difficulties of 2020, and now intends to continue the acceleration of its diversification. Its digital and materials innovations will simultaneously “deliver new growth,” while contributing to the overall strength of the group: a leitmotif of the committee’s presentation.
Multi-brand commercial fleet specialist Tructyre is part of the global Michelin group and Euromaster family. As is the case for many companies, Tructyre has found the past 12 months challenging, and it has focused on managing the impacts of the pandemic and helping to keep customers moving throughout the crisis.
The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) has awarded Michelin North America, Inc. and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company with 2021 Innovation Awards. In the technology category, USTMA honoured Goodyear for its Goodyear motion capture app that performs ergonomic risk assessments. USTMA recognised Michelin for its ‘Bib Bow’ stretching initiative in the culture category.
Founded in the South West in 1919, Gregory Distribution is one of the largest privately-owned transport companies in the UK. The Group consists of the Gregory Distribution business, ARR Craib Transport, newly acquired Pollock (Scotrans) and its joint venture business Hayton Coulthard Transport. Across the group it operates 1,100 vehicles and 2,000 trailers.
The relationship between Michelin and BMW dates back 35 years, and at present the tyre maker supplies to no less than nine ‘M’ models – the M2, M3, M4, M5, M8, X3 M, X4 M, X5 M and X6 M. Most recently, Michelin tailored two of its high performance tyre lines for original equipment fitment on the BMW M3 and M4.
It’s 18 years in a row for Michelin. The tyre maker has ranked highest in all segments of the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study and points out that this result marks its 18th consecutive highest ranking in the Luxury category as well as sixth consecutive highest ranking in the Truck/Utility Vehicle category.
Michelin is now offering expert tyre fitting and maintenance training for operators of industrial and heavy-duty machinery via two new one-day courses. The Safe Earthmover Tyre Fitting and Safe Crane Tyre Fitting programmes are delivered at the customer’s site by experts from the Michelin Training & Information Centre (MTIC). The sessions are appropriate for in-house technicians, or tyre dealers, working in a variety of sectors, including surface mining, underground mining, quarries, construction and materials handling.
Michelin has entered into a partnership with German-based digital road freight forwarder sennder to provide carriers with greater access to the Michelin range of tyres on special terms as well as retreading services. The collaboration will initially focus on Northern Europe and Iberia, with plans to scale it across other European markets throughout 2021.
Not all sports car drivers want to compete in track day events, with fast but comfortable a greater priority for many. With this in mind, German car magazine sport auto utilised two vehicles for its 2021 summer tyre test. The chosen duo were the Toyota Supra and BMW Z4, cars that share a platform and come equipped with the same-sized tyres, but developed to satisfy differing customer tastes.
Superminis are well-represented in UK registration figures, occupying the two top spots in 2020. But auto motor und sport (ams) observes that comparative tests tend to overlook the tyres that these cars wear due to their unsporty nature. The German publication now rectifies this paucity of test data by examining 11 tyre brands in size 195/55 R16H.
For many children, this week was the first back at school this year. Hull-based Endyke Tyres wanted to celebrate with the children (and no-doubt their parents), so they collaborated with Michelin in the production of some wonderful “tyre art”.
Following last month’s preview of the 2021 report, Brand Finance has released its full Tyres 10 ranking. According to the 2021 table, the tyre sector has taken a hit over the last year, with all 10 brands losing brand value. Brand Finance unsurprisingly puts this decline down to the pandemic-related behavioural changes: “Owing to the lack of travel due to lockdowns, car sales are declining, which means tyre brands are selling less units, resulting in a drop in market equity across the industry. Furthermore, since the economy has been riskier in general over the past year, investor risk has increased, triggering a rise in the cost of capital.”
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