Posted 01/06/2018 11:44:12CET
MONTREAL (CANADA), June 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The responsible of the line of business of Long Distance of Michelin, Laurent Bourrut, has assured that the manufacturer of French tires does not discard to increase the capacity of production of his plant of Aranda de Duero “in the future”.
The Castilian factory is one of the plants of the gala company with the highest production volume of truck tires in Europe and worldwide. “It is a reference in terms of productivity and efficiency,” said Bourrut.
In total, Michelin produced 424,000 tons of tires in Spain in 2017 (historical record), which makes the national territory a “very significant” market for the company.
In a meeting with the Spanish company, in the framework of the world summit on sustainable mobility ‘Movin’On by Michelin’, held in Montreal (Canada), the director, who also directs all European regions in which Michelin operates and is a member of the executive board of the company, has stated that the firm works to offer its customers the best performance throughout the life of the tire.
1,700 MILLION INVESTMENT.
For this, the multinational invested 1,700 million euros last year in R & D, while for the current year it envisages investments between 1,700 and 1,800 million and between 1,500 and 1,700 million by 2020. The company is committed to maintaining constant investments to prepare the factories of the future.
“The users will get the best from the tire, they will have the best performance from the first to the last kilometer, we are leaders and we have to offer the best product, our commitment is to guarantee the safety of the users until the tire has a depth of 1.6 millimeters, which is the legal limit, “Bourrut said.
According to the manager, Michelin also works on having its entire range of tires end up incorporating a microchip with which you can obtain information on the pressure, temperature, depth of the drawing and serial number of the tire.
The French firm put on sale its first tire with RFID microchip, called ‘X Incity XZU’ and intended for urban buses, in 2013, after the positive results obtained in the tests conducted during the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“The microchip will eventually be introduced in passenger car tires, but for the time being, there is no precise date, all parameters can be controlled and recorded in the cloud, and we are facing a new stage of connectivity,” the executive explained.
Likewise, the company will also lower the possibility of extending its payment business for the use of truck tires to passenger cars, although this will not happen immediately, according to Bourrut. Currently, 752,000 vehicles in Europe use this Michelin modality.
Michelin also announced at the Canadian event that all its tires will be manufactured with 80% sustainable materials by 2048, compared to 28% currently.
26% corresponds to products of biological origin, such as natural rubber or sunflower oil, and 2% to recycled materials, such as steel. In addition, for 30 years, it also aims for 100% of the tires for the vehicles of the future to be recycled.