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Yves Chapot answers

Updated: 2008-09-22 08:09
(China Daily)

Q: What makes a tire company care so much about safety?

Yves Chapot answers

A: According to our statistics, tire problems cause 46 percent of accidents on expressways worldwide. And today China has the world's No 2 biggest highway network. Tire blowouts are the source of 70 percent of all accidents here.

Moreover, in 2004, after we set up the first automobile tire safety testing center, we found that 91 percent of the vehicles had tire problems.

Q: What made Michelin decide to make safety its core mission?

A: Safety has been one of our strategic objectives, and it is very important for our global mission of maintaining sustainable mobility. Safety is beyond R&D and marketing. It actually relates to our sales channels and network. This is because we not only provide safe tires and safety services, but we also provide safe driving concepts for drivers and tell them how to take care of their tires.

So, safety is not only about product and service, most importantly, it is our responsibility.

Q: What is the biggest difficulty you have encountered in China?

A: My personal mission is to guarantee our Chinese staff and teams can continuously satisfy Chinese customers' requirements. We should know what kind of products and services our clients really need and their different requirements. Therefore, to understand our clients' needs and meet their demands are the biggest challenges for us and also my personal mission.

Q: The recent price hikes in China include steel, gasoline, and logistics. How do they affect the cost of Michelin tires?

A: The tire industry has been affected by the rising cost of resources over the past few years. Yet the increase of the CPI in China has been more about consumer goods, and the increase in the cost of resources has been relatively lower than before. However, the increase in vehicle fuel prices will affect our consumers and that's why we are very focused on energy savings.

(China Daily 09/22/2008 page6)

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