Michelin tires North American output accounts for 1/3 of its global sales

Peter Salek, chairman and president of Michelin Tire North America, said that the economic downturn has not affected Michelin's production increase plan, and that the international construction industry cannot afford the support of some large tires. Despite the current global economic recovery is not smooth, Michelin is full of confidence in the long-term recovery of economic growth.

We saw something similar with other companies on a global scale. We have seen the problems that exist in southern Europe, and it is clear that the economy there is declining. We see slow development in India and China, but in the United States, we expect to see a 2%-2.5% increase in GDP this year, which will be a big increase. For the world, we are not worried about another world economic recession. Our adjustments to our business are based on the actual changes in the current economy and, as a whole, we have hope and confidence in the future.

For Michelin, this is where the company moves forward and sees hope. Salek is confident in the long-term development prospects of the company's large-scale bulldozer tires, and decided to implement a US$750 million expansion plan in the United States to create 500 jobs.

Peter Salek stated that demand comes from various places. The factories we are building, or the expansion we are implementing, are to serve the global market, so of course we will provide growth for the infrastructure needs of the United States. A large part of this will go to Canada; we will have almost 30% of heavy dozer tire capacity going to Canada; most of this will be used for oil sand development there. There, it is obviously very important to develop independent supply of energy. On the other hand, with the continuous growth of emerging markets, they are equally in desperate need.

Providing supply for these needs is critical. Output in North America accounts for approximately one-third of global sales of French parent Michelin. The company has recently raised its long-term profit target and believes that the world economic recession is coming to an end.