Michelin

Lore & Background

Michelin is a French multinational tyre manufacturer headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The company is instantly recognizable by its mascot, Bibendum—often called the Michelin Man—a humanoid figure composed of tyres. Michelin’s defining characteristics include its pioneering inventions: the removable pneumatic tyre for bicycles and automobiles, the first pneumatic truck tyre, twin truck tyres, the asymmetric tyre, the run-flat tyre (which can continue operating after a puncture using a foam lining), the “green tyre,” and the radial tyre for cars, trucks, earthmovers, aircraft, and motorcycles. The radial tyre, patented in 1946 and initially marketed as the “X” tyre, revolutionized the industry with superior handling and fuel economy. Michelin also manufactures tyres for Space Shuttles, bicycles, and heavy equipment. Beyond tyres, the company is famous for its Red and Green travel guides, roadmaps, and the Michelin star system for restaurant ratings. Its brand portfolio includes Kleber, Uniroyal (in North America, Colombia, and Peru), BFGoodrich, Riken, and SASCAR. The company’s history began in 1889 when brothers Édouard and André Michelin took over a struggling rubber-parts factory in Clermont-Ferrand. After repairing a cyclist’s glued-on pneumatic tyre—a laborious process—they developed their own removable version, patenting it in 1891. That tyre was used to win the Paris–Brest–Paris race. In the 1920s and 1930s, Michelin operated large rubber plantations in Vietnam, where conditions led to the famous Phú Riềng Đỏ labour movement. Michelin later bought the bankrupt Citroën car company in the 1930s. In 1989, it acquired the tyre divisions of B.F. Goodrich and Uniroyal. As of 2021, Michelin has been the world’s largest tyre manufacturer by annual revenue.

Reader's Guide

Michelin's significance lies in its transformative impact on transportation and consumer culture. Its invention of the removable pneumatic tyre made cycling and motoring more practical, while the radial tyre—developed with Citroën—set new standards for safety and fuel efficiency, eventually dominating global markets. The company's diversification into travel guides created the Michelin star system, which remains a benchmark for culinary excellence. Its acquisitions of brands like BFGoodrich and Uniroyal expanded its reach, and its Green X technology pioneered fuel-saving tyres. By 2021, Michelin became the world's largest tyre manufacturer by revenue, with production facilities in eighteen countries.

Did You Know?

• The Michelin Man mascot, Bibendum, is a humanoid made of tyres.

From a Broken Bicycle Tyre to a Global Patent

The pivotal moment arrived when a cyclist brought in a punctured pneumatic tyre that was glued to its rim. The repair consumed over three hours, followed by an overnight drying period. The next day, Édouard test-rode the bicycle in the factory yard, and the tyre failed after only a few hundred metres. Rather than being discouraged, he was inspired. He and André set out to build a tyre that could be removed and replaced without any adhesive.

The Radial Tyre and the Slow American Conquest

The United States, however, resisted. market.

A Catalogue of Engineering Firsts

Michelin's innovation record reads like a timeline of the tyre industry's major leaps. Beyond the road, Michelin has produced tyres for Space Shuttles, aircraft, earthmovers, motorcycles, and even a pneurail for rubber-tyred metro systems. The company's brand portfolio stretches far beyond its eponymous label, encompassing Kleber, Uniroyal, BFGoodrich, Riken, and SASCAR.

The Guide, the Star, and the Man Made of Tyres

Few industrial companies have woven themselves into popular culture as thoroughly as Michelin. The firm is equally renowned for its Red and Green travel guides, its roadmaps, and the Michelin stars that the Red Guide bestows on restaurants for the quality of their cooking—a distinction that has reshaped the global dining landscape. The company's mascot, Bibendum, is a humanoid figure constructed entirely from stacked tyres, and he has become colloquially known around the world as the Michelin Man. Goodrich and Uniroyal from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice brought the Norwood, North Carolina plant that supplied tyres to the U.S. Space Shuttle Program into the Michelin family.

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