Capsule 6: Michelin between yesterday and tomorrow The visionary spirit behind our success that still guides us today July 12 2021 Imprimer Michelin: 13 decades of adventure On this day 132 years ago, shareholders unanimously named Edouard Michelin Managing Director partnership at the Annual General Meeting. On May 28, 1889, the company changed its named to “Michelin et Compagnie”. So began an adventure that saw a small company with 50 employees in 1889 become a major Group that now employs 124,000 people! Throughout our history and still today, Michelin has shown our ability to adapt and overcome any challenge, from world wars to financial, economic and sanitary crises. Did you know? When Elisabeth Pugh-Barker was growing up in Scotland, her uncle used to make bouncing rubber balls for her. Elisabeth’s husband, Edouard Daubrée, had just launched an agricultural machinery business in Clermont-Ferrand, and she attempted to replicate her childhood toy in his workshops. Edouard and his cousin Aristide quickly came to appreciate the properties of this surprising material and decided to use it in their production. In 1889, André and Edouard Michelin, the grandsons of Aristide Barbier, took over the family business. The company was almost bankrupt, down to just 50 or so employees. The Michelin brothers were looking for new ways to use rubber when they began producing tires in 1891… To hear the rest of the story and much more Michelin : many more adventures to come The Group’s passion, avant-garde spirit, and taste for innovation and challenge persist 130 years later, as exemplified by our new strategic plan, “Michelin in Motion”, unveiled last April. Reaching carbon neutrality and using 100% sustainable materials in our tires by 2050, accelerating our growth in areas beyond tires, becoming a world leader in hydrogen mobility…: there is no end to our ambition, which should lead to many new adventures to share with future generations! Michelin: a visionary spirit The VISION concept comprises both a wheel and a tire, a compelling illustration of how Michelin’s sustainable development model will transform tires between now and 2050: Airless, Rechargeable, Connected and 100% Sustainable. The VISION concept guides and inspires the work of Michelin’s R&D teams. Packed with innovations in terms of structure, high-tech materials and related services, it is already protected by 19 patents. With VISION, Michelin has pledged to meet the dual challenge of innovation and environmental responsibility. This new concept is projecting us into the future of sustainable mobility and guiding our strategic decisions, in line with our values and our corporate DNA. More than just a vision of the future, it’s a roadmap whose feasibility, effectiveness and advancement Michelin will be demonstrating year after year. Florent Menegaux, Group Michelin CEO The VISION Concept 2023 Annual General Meeting Read more Become a Michelin shareholder Read more
