MONTREAL—Constant advancement in technology, customer service and community support are key to the future of Michelin, according to Pete Selleck, chairman and president of Michelin North America Inc.
"Michelin has been around for more than 125 years, and it's easy to think of us as just a tire company," Selleck said in a June 15 interview at Movin'On 2017, Michelin's wide-ranging conference on advanced mobility in Montreal. "But Michelin has been and will continue to be an important company in the sense of helping society."
At the outset of Movin'On, Michelin announced three ambitious goals for 2020:
- Increase its revenue from its tire operations by 20 percent;
- Double revenue from its service activities; and
- Triple its revenue from activities related to mobility experiences, such as gourmet dining and tourism.
Michelin also will vigorously reaffirm its leadership in the high-technology materials segment, the company said.
Movin'On, which Selleck called "an incredible event and venue," is designed not only to help achieve all these goals, but also to let Michelin's customers and dealers know what to expect from the company, he said.
"The things you see at this event, at least some of them will be in the market 10 years from now," Selleck said. "If consumers and dealers don't see those trends, the future is going to be difficult.
You have to look constantly at ways to improve. At Michelin, it starts with looking at our customers and dealers."
Customer-focused
One of Michelin's biggest goals is to become even more customer-centric than it already is, according to Selleck.
"Our B2B is not as good as we need it to be," he said. "We must understand the challenges that fleet owners, mining companies and airlines have. We must understand their larger problems so we can serve them better."
Becoming simpler, and yet more digital, also is at the center of what Michelin is trying to do, Selleck said. "What are the things we can do to make small fleets more successful?" he asked.