Tires full of ideas - the Michelin brothers

Concern Michelin, a well-known French tire manufacturer, incl. for Formula 1, it would never have arisen if it were not for a special set of unfavorable circumstances. The founders of a powerful company, the brothers Edouard and André Michelin (1), had different career plans, but it was thanks to the tire industry that they achieved financial success.

The eldest of the brothers André Jules Aristide Michelin (born 1853), graduated from the École Centrale Paris where he received an engineering degree in 1877, and opened a steel company in Paris. Junior Edward (born in 1859) followed in the footsteps of his father, Julius Michelinwho worked in customs, and in his spare time was engaged in painting and lithography. Edward studied law to support himself and his passion was painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

When he tried his hand as a landscape painter in 1886, he received a desperate letter from an aunt who asked him to take over and maintain the family business in Clermont-Ferrand. The company, founded in 1832 by the grandfather of the Michelin brothers, was on the verge of bankruptcy. The company was losing customers. Although it had a reputation for good quality, the factory's farm machines were too expensive and increasingly obsolete. Edward answered "yes", but turned to his brother for help. Andre not only knew the machines, but also had business experience. Their strategy to preserve the family assets was clearly defined - they have to look for new sales opportunities.

In the family business, along with the debts, the Michelin brothers inherited the secret of making rubber from rubberand the demand for rubber products stimulated the development of the automotive and cycling industries. So they decided to try their hand at this industry. They got the necessary capital from their aunt and changed the name of the family business. And in 1986 Michelin et Cie.

Consequences of the visit of an unlucky cyclist

However, the start was difficult, and Michelin was just one of many small companies competing with the magnate who invented and developed the vulcanization process in 1839. The French were helped by a combination of circumstances.

One spring afternoon in 1889, he visited their factory. cyclistwho had a flat tire during the trip. On his bicycle was a set of newly invented pneumatic tires designed by Scottish businessman John Boyd Dunlop. Michelin workers had to work hard for several hours to repair flat tires. Dunlop tires because they stuck to the rims, making them difficult to remove and repair.

When it finally happened, Edward gave it a little ride. modern bike. He was very impressed with the smoothness and speed of the tire filled with air. He convinced his brother that the future of the automotive industry belonged to this type of tire, and that pneumatic tires would soon become more popular than the much less comfortable solid rubber tires known as "arrays" that were in use at the time. The way Dunlop tires fit needs a little tweaking.

Two years later, in 1891, they had the first interchangeable tire with an inner tube, the so-called collapsible tire, ready. They used an innovative combination of wheel rim and tire with a small screw and clamps. This held the tire components together. In the event of a puncture, changing a new tire took only 15 minutes, which seems trivial today, but then it was real technical revolution.

Michelin Brazil they also skillfully promoted their invention. Cycling Champion Charles Terront he started on a bicycle with Michelin tires in the Paris-Brest-Paris rally in 1891. In his landmark performance, Terron covered 72 kilometers in XNUMX hours, changing tires several times during the race. Michelin bus attracted interest and Michelin became one of the most important companies in the vulcanization industry, initially offering only bicycle tires.

Edward and André followed suit. They worked on improving their invention. In 1895, their Błyskawica - L'Éclair - started in the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris rally as the first car equipped with pneumatic tires (2). The Michelin brothers began to conquer the car tire market.

2. The Michelin brothers driving L'Eclair with the first pneumatic tires in the race from Paris to Bordeaux - figure reproduction

They needed effective advertising in the new business. Creation idea Michelin famous person was born in the mind of the future landscape painter Edouard. At the General and Colonial Exhibition in Lyon in 1898, Édouard's attention was drawn to a pile of tires stacked on top of each other. This sight inspired him to create corporate mascot.

The famous bibendum man was designed by Marius Rossillon, O'Galop. The white color of the tires that form the Bibendum silhouette is not accidental. It was not until 1905 that the English chemist C. K. Mout discovered that enriching the vulcanization process with carbon black increased the durability of rubber. Prior to this discovery, tires for both bicycles and cars were white, like a Michelin Man.

Leadership and innovation

3. The first Michelin guide in 1900.

The company was looking for new ideas to catch up with the biggest names in the tire industry - Goodyear, Firestone and Continental. In 1900, André came up with Michelin guide (3). The Michelin Red Book of Motorists, published for the first time on the occasion of the World Expo in Paris, contained a long list of French cities with addresses of places where you can stop, eat, gas up or have your car repaired. The publication also includes instructions repair and replacement of Michelin tires.

The idea of ​​an advertising campaign in this form turned out to be just as ingenious in its simplicity. Drivers Delivered 35 Free Copies red guide. In 1906, Michelin increased the workforce at the Clermont-Ferrand plant to more than four thousand people, and a year later opened the first foreign Michelin tire factory in Turin.

The brothers Eduard and Andre proved to be masters of marketing, but they did not forget how important innovation is to the development of the company, for which the company is known to this day. (4). At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, a Michelin star, dressed in a new tire with a studded tread, asked drivers if they knew why it was not slipping? Michelin tread provided better grip and tire durability. The French drivers were delighted and changed tires en masse. And the Michelin brothers counted the profits.

4. Michelin Modern Concept Tires and the Bibendum Man

During the First World War, the accumulated capital allowed them to produce two thousand aircraft for the needs of the French army, of which they built a hundred exclusively at their own expense. Breguet-Michelin planes took off at Clermont-Ferrand from the world's first cement strip, which was built by the Michelin brothers. A few years before the start of the war, they became interested in aviation and established a special Michelin award and the Michelin Cup in competition for French pilots.

In 1923, Michelin introduced Comfort tires to drivers. first low pressure tire (2,5 bar), which provided good grip and cushioning. The value of the Michelin brand grew and the company became an authority for millions of drivers.

Taking advantage of their position in the market, the Michelin brothers introduced the famous star in 1926, which quickly became a prized and coveted trophy for hoteliers and restaurateurs. André Michelin died in 1931, Edouard Michelin in 1940. In 1934, the Michelin family acquired the French Citroën automobile factory, which was liquidated. A quarter of a million jobs were saved, the claims of creditors and thousands of small savers were settled. Edward and André passed on to their descendants a powerful empire that had long ceased to be just a tire company.

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