Michelin’s emphasis on mobility experience
Bruno de Feraudy, president of Michelin (China) Investment Co Ltd, has been presented with the 2018 Magnolia Award. De Feraudy said French tire maker has witnessed rapid development in the Chinese market and also in Shanghai, the city where he lives.
De Feraudy first visited China in 1995. At the time, he was based in Michelin’s Singapore office, responsible for B2B business in the truck industry in Asia. In 2012, de Feraudy started to work in Shanghai as a senior vice president of the Michelin Group’s passenger car and light truck division. He was appointed president of Michelin (China) Investment Co Ltd in 2015.
He said he was very pleased and honored to have received the award, not for himself but also for the company.
“This Magnolia Award is also for the China team as they have done a great job these past years and I take it for them,” de Feraudy told Shanghai Daily.
Michelin is one of the leading tire makers in the Chinese market. China is the largest automobile market in the world and it has a huge demand for tires and the tire sector has been developing rapidly.
Michelin entered the Chinese market in 1989 and has plants in Shanghai and Shenyang. In 2001, the company started to develop research and development activities in Shanghai. A new center was put into use in 2015.
The company places great emphasis on innovation, safety and green tires. The research and development center in Shanghai now has more than 200 people and used global technology developed by Michelin for the specific needs of Chinese consumers.
De Feraudy said that the research and development center is working on an innovative technology called a tire pressure monitoring system. Car owners will be informed if there is a problem with the tire. The user will get an indication of tire pressure, tire temperature and wear via a mobile app. The technology will be available in China soon.
In addition to producing tires, Michelin has around 1,500 after-sales service shops owned by its TyrePlus brand in China. TyrePlus covers a range of after-sales services, including replacement tires, tire related products, vehicle maintenance and quick repairs. TyrePlus has an official online store, which means consumers will be able to order tires online and have them installed later at the nearest shop.
“When you look at the new generation of consumers, they want to enjoy their mobility but they don’t want to carry the burden of the maintenance of their car. There is a major change we can observe from the market that people are looking for advice and a seamless purchasing process. This is what we propose with TyrePlus with an online experience,” de Feraudy said.
He said Shanghai is a place where development movement never stops. He has seen the impressive development of infrastructure from 2012 and 2018 and new services and new generations of new companies coming in. Now the city is going to improve mobility with innovation and green mobility such as the development of new-energy vehicles, he added.
“For Shanghai to further improve its competitiveness and become a better city, it is very important to continuously improve people’s quality of life and retain the development of young people,” de Feraudy said.