Michelin recalls 17,000 vintage tires

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Michelin North America Inc. is recalling nearly 17,000 Michelin-branded vintage/antique tires under a dozen lines that are missing the required Department of Transportation (DOT) certification symbol.

The tires being recalled—which carry the X, XWX, Pilote X, XVS, TRX, MXV, XAS, TB 15, XDX, ZX, VHC, TB 5, XM+, and PB 20 line identities—were manufactured in Europe at various times from 2007-22.

Michelin cited a supply-chain "routing error" for the situation, which covers 16,983 tires.

Michelin has stopped shipping products in these lines and has notified distributors handling its vintage products in the U.S. to halt the sales of the affected product lines.

As the tires do not carry the identification information required under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 109, "New Pneumatic and Certain Specialty Tires," and 139, "New Pneumatic Radial Tires for Light Vehicles," they are not in compliance with U.S. law.

Michelin stressed there have been no safety incidents in the U.S. related to the subject tires.

Michelin estimates it has tires on hand in Europe that are properly marked covering about half of the population marked for recall. It anticipates having tires produced covering the remainder of the affected population by mid-2023.

Michelin said it will replace the tires, free of charge. If necessary, certain recalled SKUs could be replaced with competitor tires of the same dimensions.

A complete list of the tires, showing line and size, is available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Michelin has as yet not provided a schedule for recall notification. Owners may contact Michelin customer service at 866-324-2835.