PHOENIX (Jan. 26, 2001) — The tire industry must rededicate itself to quality and technical excellence in order to regain consumer confidence, Group Michelin Chairman Edouard Michelin said recently.
"This is a humble task, an everyday task," Mr. Michelin said at Michelin Americas Small Tires 2001 national sales meeting in Phoenix. "Michelin always has had a strong commitment to manufacturing, ecology and quality.... We feel maybe this work can be better recognized."
The Firestone recall is a "wake up call for industry," Mr. Michelin said, "a call for responsibility about what the industry, including regulators, can do in order to go futher in terms of safety."
For Michelin, "this is a tremendous opportunity for our dealers to contribute to further the value that our engineers and production teams are putting into the product," he said.
"Consumers need to be helped," he said, pointing out that the tire gauge has existed for more than a hundred years, but very few car owners own one, let alone use one regularly. Proper tire care will require a change in behavior, and dealers will play a critical role in this education process.