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.
For the fourth year in a row, Michelin can be found at the top of Tyres & Accessories’ 2020 UK social media ranking. Indeed, such is Michelin’s dominance in the annual table, only Goodyear (in 2012) and Dunlop (in 2016) have done enough to overtake the UK arm of the French tyre brand since our research began in 2011. In both cases, Michelin still managed to take second place.
John Sutch Cranes has confirmed it will specify Michelin tyres across its fleet of mobile cranes, tractor units, trailers and rigid trucks, after a trial set of Michelins covered more than twice the distance normally seen from the firm’s previous tyre of choice. The family business compared the performance of the 445/95 R25 Michelin X-Crane + tyres fitted to one of its three-axle Liebherr cranes, versus an identical crane doing similar work, but running on the same size tyres from another premium brand.
This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans commences tomorrow, but you’re not invited. Nobody is – for the first time in its long history, the event will take place behind closed doors, sans partners, sponsors and spectators. Michelin will be present though, with 54 of the 59 competing cars running on its tyres.
Michelin has introduced an employee share ownership plan. Bib Action, as the plan is known, gives Michelin group employees the opportunity to subscribe to a rights issue reserved for them under preferential terms – namely at a discount. Michelin’s managing chairman decided to carry out the rights issue in order to “more deeply involve employees in the group’s growth and development through a dynamic relationship built on mutual commitments”. The subscription period for the five-year minimum ownership share scheme will run from 16 September to 1 October 2020. The rights issue was authorized by the Annual Shareholders Meeting of 23 June 2020 in the 22nd resolution.
France’s government has launched a national hydrogen strategy valued at seven billion euros, and aims to build up capacity for hydrogen from non-fossil sources by 2030. Michelin applauds this step and has reiterated its commitment to its own goals in this field. The company says its work here will mean a “significant share” of its business will be non-tyre related in a decade’s time. Fabio Ferrari, co-founder of Symbio, is tasked with leading the development of Michelin’s Hydrogen Mobility strategy and supporting its deployment.
Michelin and Pirelli are leading the way on tyre and rubber sustainability, according to a recent report from Context Group. Context’s ranking assessed 11 members of the Tire Industry Project (TIP), namely Bridgestone; Continental; Cooper; Goodyear; Hankook; Kumho; Michelin; Pirelli; Sumitomo Rubber; Toyo and Yokohama.
Context analysed the sustainability content on each company’s website to see if it included communications covering some of the main issues associated with the life cycle impacts of tyres, including the four focus areas of the TIP: tyre and road wear particles, sustainable natural rubber, end-of-life tyres and environmental performance. The researchers assessed how well the companies tell their sustainability story by looking at their use of multimedia, news articles and social media.
Michelin has extended its medium-haul X Multi truck tyre range with the addition of a new size to the X Multi Z and X Multi D lines. It has also introduced two new high load capacity tyres, the X Multi HLZ and X Multi HLT.
Michelin is coordinating 7 industrial partners, 5 Research & Technological Organizations (RTOs) and an innovation cluster into a European consortium designing pioneering processes to produce new tyres from end-of-life tyres (ELTs). The project, called BlackCycle owing to its focus on developing a circular economy for tyres, is run across five countries.
Scandinavian Enviro Systems AB is reporting a “dramatic increase in interest” the pyrolysis oil the company extracts from end-of-life tyres. According to the company, the oil has a high bio content due to the natural rubber in tyres and is therefore “of great interest to many players in the market because it could replace fossil-based alternatives”. This, in turn, is likely to help Enviro’s sales revenues. “Based on the market response and our own calculations, we judge that the oil recovered from end-of-life tyres could contribute to a strong increase of revenues from recycling plants that use our technology,” Thomas Sörensson, CEO of Enviro, explained.
Michelin North America, Inc., has agreed to settle lawsuits against Carlstar Group, LLC and former Michelin employee Michael Dotson. A court in the US state of South Carolina has permanently prohibited Dotson from using or revealing any Michelin trade secret or confidential information and ordered him to return any Michelin information in his possession. Dotson also agreed to pay Michelin the financial damages sought in the lawsuit, which accused him of misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of his non-disclosure agreement.
Staffordshire-based N.S. Clarke Transport has specified Michelin tyres as original equipment across 30 new Volvo FH 6×2 500hp tractors joining its fleet, praising the tyre company for its impressive pence per kilometre running costs and its innovative accidental damage guarantee.
After reopening its Stoke-on-Trent retreading factory following its closure for a scheduled maintenance break lengthened by the Coronavirus crisis, Tyres & Accessories spoke to Michelin’s UK factory manager Francois Levert about recent developments. The mileage trucks covered during the lockdown did not plummet as much as that of cars, but there have certainly been effects on demand. Levert confirmed at the end of June that the Michelin factory in Stoke-on-Trent is “operational”. A lot of work had previously been invested to ensure “that we can work as safely and efficiently as possible. We are now at a normal production level, which is very gratifying.”
This article appears in full in the September edition of Tyres & Accessories’ Retreading Special supplement. Subscribers can read the supplement online here. Not yet a subscriber? You can change that here.
Michelin is rolling out a new digital services platform for customers in the USA. The tyre maker is offering the cloud-based Maestro platform through its 2018-established Services and Solutions division with the aim of creating “a stronger, more effective working relationship between service providers, fleets and Michelin.”
Michelin has launched its latest agricultural tyre technology in the UK. Zen@Terra connects directly into the tractor’s ISOBUS system. It allows farmers to switch between low pressures, for maximum soil protection, and higher pressures, to maximise performance on the road. The system is designed for fitment in combination with a central tyre inflation system (CTIS) and Michelin’s Ultraflex tyre range – although it can be used with any Michelin agricultural tyre. Michelin adds that the process takes a matter of minutes and can be operated via an easy-to-use, integrated in-cab touch-screen display.
The Michelin Challenge Design competition is being renamed as the Movin’On Challenge Design. Now in its 21st year, the 2021 theme is “RESPECT: Ending Isolation and Conquering the Mobility Divide”. Artists, designers, engineers, architects, city planners and creatives worldwide are invited to enter, in teams or individually.
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