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.
Goodyear will be the official press sponsor of the 75th Geneva International Auto Show, when it runs from 3 to 13 March. The manufacturer will use the sponsorship opportunity to increase recognition of the new name for its fail-safe, RunOnFlat technology. Last year Michelin was responsible for sponsoring this area of the show. Goodyear joins the likes of Eurosport, Yahoo Cars, Peugeot and Mazda, in supporting the event.
Michelin is extending the X One Total Satisfaction Guarantee into 2005, US magazine e-trucker has reported. The guarantee will be available to X One tyre customers in the US that purchase at least four replacement assemblies. According to the report, the guarantee will cover the first 10 sets of X One tyres purchased. As part of its guarantee, Michelin will buy back X One casings and will cover 75 per cent of the cost of the wheels if the owner isn’t pleased with the tyre’s performance at the end of its original tread life. Michelin recently added a new production line at its Spartanburg, South Carolina, factory partly to increase its capacity to produce X One tyres.
Michelin is set to sell its wheel business to the German Mefro group. According to Michelin, the new owners will keep both manufacturing plants and their 1800 strong workforce intact. Mefro, a family-owned company, has an annual turnover of approximately 160 million euros and aspirations to become the “number one European wheel manufacturer.” Now in light of the recent purchase, the company sees itself as a significant competitor to European steel wheel producers Gianetti and Hayes Lemmerz.
Michelin’s sports-touring tyre, Pilot Road, has two new additions for fitment to big trail bikes.
110/80 R 19 59V front and 150/70 R 17 69V rear are designed for bikes including the Honda Varadero, Triumph Tiger, Suzuki V-Strom and BMW R1100, 1150GS and 1200GS models.
The combination of Pirelli’s new studs and Petter Solberg’s driving has brought Michelin’s Swedish rally winning streak to an end. Before this year, the French manufacturer’s run stretched all the way back to 1997. ”Despite the difficult conditions, our P Zero J1 tyres won the rally and the overwhelming majority of the stages,” said Pirelli tyre rally manager Fiore Brivio, speaking at the finish. The race winner was quick to thank the Italian tyre firm: ”There are so many people to thank, everyone from [co-driver] Phil Mills, to the guys who work on my car, to Pirelli who have built such an incredible tyre, and the supporters out on the stages who cheered us along. Thanks so much to all of you!”
While some newspapers reported analysts’ disappointment with Michelin’s weaker than expected fourth quarter sales, analysts from France, Morgan Stanley as well as Deutsche Bank do not see too much reason for concern. Although volumes were slightly negative, the positive effect of better product mix and prices has continued to be demonstrated from quarter to quarter. Obviously Michelin increased market share with winter tyres and truck tyres in the OE business. Analysts are also highlighting the fact that Michelin is to invest 500 million euros in its polish plant and is therefore ready for further expansion in Eastern Europe.
Michelin has signed the lease for a 205 acre plot of land in the north eastern Polish town of Olszryn, with a view to expanding its presence there, according to the town’s mayor. “I have signed a lease agreement with [Michelin Poland CEO] Pierre Michallat, which is very beneficial for the French group, for nearly 100 hectares of land next to the already existing Michelin sites in our town,” said Jerzy Malkowski, mayor of Olsztyn.
Global investment group, Investcorp, has decided to acquire American Tire Distributors Inc (ATD) from its majority shareholder, Charlesbank Capital Partners. According to the Tire Review report, no further details were released.
ATD is the largest independent tyre distributor in the US, with 70 distributions centres in 35 states. These service some 40,000 tyre dealer locations across the country.
The outcome of the first races of the 2005 Formula 1 series will depend on how well teams adapt to the new tyres regulations, Jacques Villeneuvre has said in an article on his web site. “I think at least the first four or five races will be very interesting. There will be more suspense during the grand prix and I can tell you that everything will depend on how the drivers and teams will manage the new tyre rule.”
“After some testing in Valencia and Barcelona we’re making good progress and starting to understand how the Michelin tyres and new aero are working,” he added.
The $100 million joint venture tyre between India’s Apollo Tyres and Groupe Michelin will begin in early 2006, according to the operation’s chairman and managing director. Onkar Kanwar said construction work on the radial medium truck and bus tyre plant, in Pune, India, has started and should be operational in the first quarter of next year, Tire Review reported, citing wire reports.
Michelin North America has announced that it is voluntarily recalling 20,000 of its BFGoodrich Land Terrain P235/75R15 size tyres, according to a Tire Review report. The tyre are being recalled after a routine quality inspection process found that the affected tyres were produced with the required tread wear indicators. MNA said there is no performance problems with the tyres, which are primarily sold through Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire stores, the magazine reported. The recalled tyres all have the following DOT code: AN HL B411 and end with the last four digits 0904 through 3304 and mould numbers: 40381 and 40382.
The German Helaba Trust has changed its advice for Michelin shares to a sell rating. The announcement pre-empts Michelin’s quarterly sales results, which are due to be released on the 11 February. In the first nine months of 2004 Michelin’s turnover increased 4.6 per cent to 11.7 billion euros. The analysts believe that company will record fourth quarter sales of 4.3 billion, a one per cent increase. Their report suggests that this growth has been largely driven by the commercial vehicle sector, which it predicts will have been responsible for 1.1 billion euros of that total. The trust also suggests that the company’s passenger car sales remained virtually flat, with sales only increasing 0.3 per cent or 1.9 billion euros.
Michelin North America’s “Michelin Man” ad-campaign won a silver award at the annual Advertising Marketing Effectiveness (AME) Awards. Presented as part of the New York Festivals, the AME Awards are the only global forum recognising the effectiveness as well as the creativity of advertising and marketing. The agency responsible for the campaign, Campbell-Ewald, won a total of six gold, silver and bronze medallions. Amongst them the company took gold for Chevrolet’s “An American Revolution” campaign.
Following Michelin’s takeover of the Viborg group, the tyre chain was integrated into the pan-European Euromaster network, and now covers the German market with more than 300 service centres, represented in most cities. Europe wide, Euromaster’s turnover totals around 1.8 billion euros (£1.24 billion) per year. The Michelin subsidiary employs over 11,000 people and sells more than 10 million tyres.
One of the biggest events in the agricultural community’s calendar is the Smithfield show. The exhibition’s organisers say that the show aims to respond to the needs of the ever evolving farming industry, by providing a number of new and exciting initiatives designed to advise and enlighten those involved. This year’s show attracted a farming audience of nearly 44,000. Tyres & Accessories was also present amongst the livestock and the potato sorting machinery, reporting on developments in the world of agricultural tyres.
A number of competitions took place at the show including the Smithfield New Machinery Award, which was won by Richard Larrington of Boston, Lincolnshire, for his ingenious Potato loading machine. Michelin also won an award. This year the French tyre manufacturer picked up the gold award for consistent commitment to agricultural machinery. According to the company, this one will be added to the silver RASE award it won for the CargoXbib at the Royal Show at Stoneleigh.
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