MAGOG, Quebec — Michelin North America Inc. celebrated its Magog facility — the global headquarters of its Michelin Off-Road business line and its research and development center for tracks and systems — at an event Sept. 7 attended by local community leaders and media.
The facility in Magog — a city of about 25,000 residents in southern Quebec — has been part of Michelin's assets since July 2018 when the French tire maker acquired Camso Group in a $1.45 billion transaction.
The Canadian site develops all of Michelin's off-road mobility offerings and acts as global center of excellence, "spearheading innovation in its sector of activity," Michelin said.
The facility has about 300 employees, most dedicated to the off-road business line that designs tires, tracks and systems as well as service offers and goes to business under the Michelin, BFGoodrich, Camso, Kléber and Solideal brands. The unit has customers across 42 countries, Michelin said.
The team works with both leading original equipment manufacturers and the aftermarket. It represents more than 380,000 tons of product sold over four areas — agriculture, materials handling, construction and powersports, Erick Bellefleur, senior vice president of the business line, said.
The facility also houses the Michelin Research & Development Center for tracks and systems as well as its test center, Bellefleur said.
"The size of our research team has doubled since 2019 to support our growth and we expect this expansion to continue, bringing great employment opportunities with high added value locally."
Michelin engages about 60 interns each year at the Magog facility, particularly in marketing, finance, human resources and engineering. The site also invests in the community in areas of health, education and community well-being through investments, sponsorship and volunteer programs.
Manuel Montana, business director mines, Beyond Road, Avion and a member of the group's executive committee, called the Magog site "unique," and said its addition to Michelin's assets has allowed the company to recruit employees with a "very high level of expertise and has opened us up to a new field of mobility, tracks and systems."
"Our Michelin Magog teams listen to our customers daily and are constantly innovating to offer them safer, more accessible, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly off-road mobility."
Camso opened the facility in 2015.
Michelin recently disclosed plans to invest $100 million over five years to expand production capacity for rubber tracks and grow its work force at the Junction City plant of its Camso subsidiary by as many as 200 employees.
Camso opened the Junction City facility in 2020 as part of a broader effort to grow its North American footprint.
