MICHELIN - 2008 ANNUAL REPORT

A brand promise
and six commitments
The MICHELIN brand, which is both
global and generalist, is key to
the Group’s leadership. It encapsulates
the company’s mission: “Contribute
to the progress of mobility for both
goods and people”. Its promise,
expressed in its tagline, shared across
the world – A better way forward –
covers six separate commitments: safety,
best total cost of ownership, respect
for the environment, individual and
collective wellbeing, easy and pleasant
travel experience. The rich variety of
these commitments meets the different
needs of diversified markets. Michelin’s
competitive edge results from the
matchless mix of tire performance
aspects it is able to deliver, especially
the combination of long service life,
safety and fuel efficiency.
Product performance and services
that make all the difference
Continue to deliver ever higher-performance
products and tailor-made, innovative services
to enhance safety, total cost of ownership
and environmental footprint: to deliver on
this commitment, each year, the Group
channels 3 to 4% of its net sales in research
and development. With some 6,000 persons
and a EUR 500 million budget in 2008,
the Group’s research, development and
industrialization operations are the tire
industry’s largest.
With fuel efficiency and environmental
protection considerations emerging as key
competitive issues, Michelin’s innovative clout
makes it one of the best-placed to turn these
unprecedented challenges into profitable
growth opportunities. Such breakthrough
innovations as the Michelin Durable
Technologies for trucks and MICHELIN Energy
Saver for passenger cars, synonymous with
lower fuel consumption, increased safety
and longevity, clearly illustrate Michelin’s
competitive edge in this area.
Other differentiation opportunities include:
the travel-enabling services that make
transportation safer and optimize operator
business and the bottom line. Long haul
fleets, farmers, OEMs, mining companies,
airlines… Michelin develops for its customers
high value-added solutions like truck-side
maintenance, mileage-based, per landing
or transported ton invoicing and is becoming
a genuine business partner capable of
optimizing their overall performance.
Enhancing individual professionalism
and commitment
In order to retain its leadership, Michelin
Group intends to operate in all markets and
to win customers’ loyalty through superior
product and service quality and innovation,
operational excellence and powerful brands
and its employees’ loyalty by fostering their
commitment and talent. Respect for People,
a strong corporate culture that acts as a
social cement and source of motivation –
underpinned by a long-term view of
personnel growth – are the three mainstays
of the Group’s management policy, deployed
for 117,000 employees of 120 nationalities.
In France, the plan to support the
826 employees of the Kléber site at Toul,
together with the Group’s commitment
to revitalize employment in the Toul area
(with 900 new job creations by 2012) are a
concrete illustration of the meaning behind
the phrase ’Respect for People’ at Michelin.
32 2008 Michelin Annual Report