See also: Michelin (homonymy)

The company Michelin is a French manufacturer of tires. It is a multinational whose head office is with Clermont-Ferrand (Auvergne) in France. With 20% of the worldwide market, it is the world leader of the tire. Its net sales in 2005 rose to 15,6 billion Euro S. Implantée in 19 country, it employs 123  975 people, of which 31  000 in France.

The parent company, the general Company of the Michelin establishments, is a SCA. The companies of the group except France are chapeautées by a holding company, the Michelin Finance company, domiciled with Barns-Paccot in the canton of Freiburg in Suisse.

Among its many inventions, there is the dismountable tire, the railway tire (“Pneurail”), the carcass Radiale which equips all the contemporary tires and the tire known as " vert" who reduces fuel consumption by less resistance to the advance of the vehicles. Michelin publishes also a popular series of road maps and the famous Guide Michelin .

Activities

In 2005, the group is present on the markets (primarily out of radial tire):

Tires

  • Tires tourism (18% of the market).
  • weight-heavy Tires (30% of the market first go up).
  • Other tires: two wheels, Civil engineering, agricultural, plane.
  • Republication of new tires for cars of collection.
  • Distribution of tires: Euromaster in Europe and IPC in the United States.

Record: the Pneumatique the largest of the world is Michelin 59/80R 63. It equips the Tombereau X giant Caterpillar 797B with mining excavation in Australia. Weighing five tons and measuring four meters of Diameter for 1,48m of width, its cost is of 30  000 Euro S the unit. They are inflated to 6,5 bar of pressure.

Edition

  • Edition of tourist guides and gastronomical guides.
  • Development and marketing of products and services numerical of assistance to displacement and mobility: ViaMichelin

Abandoned activities

  • 1971 : stop of the road production of control panels in lava enamelled on reinforced concrete, started in the years 1920. (see external bonds)

History

In the middle of the 19th century, the control of the rubber appears, in particular by the Vulcanization.
  • 1889 : The brothers Michelin (Andre Michelin - centralien - and Edouard Michelin) base Michelin and Co close to the place of the Carmelite friars with Clermont-Ferrand on a ground of 12 hectares. Fifty two people work in the company. The head office is always installed on the same site.
  • 1891 : Development of the dismountable tire for Bicycle. The patent is deposited the June 18th. Charles Terrant gains the cycle race Paris - Brest on a bicycle equipped with Michelin tires the following year.
  • 1898 : Creation of the Michelin catch by the draftsman O' Galop. Character is surmounted by maxim “Nunc is bibendum” (It that it is necessary to drink), is now transformed by the author into advertizing slogan: “The Michelin tire drinks the obstacle”.
  • 1899 : the electric Automobile the Jamais Satisfies, equipped with Michelin tire, exceeds 100 km/h.
  • 1900 : the first red guide presenting the advised restaurants.
  • 1901 : The first poster with the character Bibendum, resembling its current version little. The character will be made more expressive with the wire of time.
  • 1907 : Opening of a new factory in Clermont-Ferrand: Cataroux. Michelin installs its first factory out from France to Turin.
  • 1955 : François Michelin reaches the station of manager. He will manage the growth related to the business success of the radial tire and will open approximately thirty factories in the world during the decades 1960 and 1970.
  • 1971: - opening of the first factory in North America with Bridgewart (Nova Scotia, Canada)

Although less important today, the influence of Michelin is always felt. Thus, Clermont-Ferrand is the first city to have adopted a bidirectional tram tyred.

Former managers

  • Robert Puiseux
  • Emile Durin
  • Edouard Michelin (named in 1999, deceased on May 26th, 2006)
  • Rene Zingraff (departure in May 2006)

Michelin and the sport

.

Anecdotes

  • the Michelin guides were given a long time free. The legend says that one day one of Michelin, which had come in a garage, there had seen a car posed on a pile of guides being used as hold, and then decided to rather sell them at cost price than to give them, to avoid these abuses.

  • the expressions “deserves a turning” and sometimes “is worth the voyage” for a restaurant constituted an astute manner of inciting the customers to use a little more their tires.

  • It went from there in the same way terminals Michelin , indicating terminals installed with the expenses of the company a little everywhere in France and which, in addition to discrete publicity that they presented, encouraged to more often travel owing to the fact that the orientation on the road became easier. The green guides went in the same direction.

  • the car manufacturer Citroen was between 1934 and 1976 under the control of the Michelin group.

  • In 1984, Michelin was credited on the one hand with 50% of the market of the United States, thanks to a constant marketing and with its experiment in the field of the radial tire.

  • the tire constitutes an example of new matters being juxtaposed with older, instead of replacing them: the tires are manufactured containing natural rubbers and synthetic, and the rubber butyl tire tubes.

  • Among its leaders always appeared a descendant of the founders, except between 1940 and 1955, Michelin was already managed by two “foreigners” with the dynasty: Robert Puiseux, one of the sons-in-law of Edouard, and Pierre-Jules Baker. It will have to be waited until 1955 so that François Michelin, the son of Etienne, takes the joint management of the group. It did not have whereas 33 years. The last Michelin manager was Edouard Michelin, until his death on May 26th, 2006.

  • One of the avenues of Clermont-Ferrand bears the name of Edouard Michelin. The stage of Rugby of the city bears as for him the name of Marcel Michelin, the founder of ASM and wire of André Michelin.

Management of the firm

Joint managers:

  • Michel Rollier (active manager)

  • Didier Miraton (nonactive manager, director of research and the industrial performance)
  • Jean-Dominique Senard (nonactive manager, finance manager)

Note: taking into account the statute of the group in partnership limited by shares, there is no chairman but one or more managers. Since 1996, the managers are assisted by a executive council groups .

Board of trustees

Executive council

Information economic

Distribution of the capital

  • Institutional foreigners: 45,8%

  • Institutional French: 31,9%
  • individual Shareholders: 15,2%
  • Capital and Research Company Management: 5%
  • Personal Michelin (PEE)

Distribution at the 12/31/2005 (source: newspaper the Mountain 5/31/2006)

Financial data

¹ net Sales ² operational Résultat

Stock exchange data

  • Shares quoted with the Bourse de Paris
  • Member of the index CAC 40
  • Weight in index CAC 40:
  • Code Value ISIN = FR0000121261
  • Face value = euro
  • Principal shareholders:
(2005): Limited partnership with share capitals: institutional 68,1%, natural persons (of which family) 18%, Franklin Templeton 6,7%, Wellington 5,1%, employees 2,1%.

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