For over 135 years, Michelin has been at the forefront of innovation, driving mobility to unprecedented heights. The movement of people and goods has achieved remarkable levels of scale and innovation, but it comes with a price – an increase in negative environmental impact. Today, nearly a third (28%) of greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. and a quarter (22%) in Canada are from the transportation sector.
Recognizing the urgency of addressing climate change, managing our natural resources more efficiently, and reducing unsustainable consumption, Michelin is committed to leading the charge toward a more sustainable future for the transportation sector. To demonstrate this commitment, Michelin North America, Inc. convened media and influencers at its first-ever Sustainability Summit in Sonoma, California to witness its pioneering efforts first-hand.
At its Sustainability Summit, Michelin set out to achieve the following goals:
To authentically convey its sustainability and carbon-neutral commitments in a crowded market where such claims are often met with skepticism, Michelin North America, Inc. adopted a strategy focused on immersive, hands-on experiences for onsite attendees. This strategy allowed 25 automotive and business reporters to witness the brand’s progress first-hand. The Michelin Sustainability Summit, held at the iconic Sonoma Raceway, provided an action-packed day of programming that demonstrated how the company implements its sustainability initiatives through candid leadership discussions, real-time product demonstrations, and firsthand experiences with OEM partners.
The morning kicked-off with two-and-a-half hours of programming, in which executives from Michelin North America and its partners Lucid, Daimler, and Symbio discussed Michelin’s decades-long commitment to sustainability. They set the stage outlining Michelin’s history, highlighting its creation of the first renewable tire in the 1990s, before discussing current products in development, and unveiling ongoing R&D aimed at advancing sustainable transportation in the future.
This was followed by catering from the newly minted Michelin Guides’ Green Star restaurant Pomet, based locally in Oakland, to showcase how Michelin is making sustainability a core pillar across all its divisions. Reporters enjoyed a farm-to-table meal adjacent to the racetrack and were served crab chowder with “New Bay” seasoning, celery root agnolotti with wild mushrooms, smoked char siu stemple creek chuck with hot mustard, and turnip cake with seasonal vegetables from local farmer and restaurateur Aomboon Deasy to further drive home the importance of reducing waste.
The real fun began as reporters were escorted onto the racetrack to see Michelin’s OEM partners in action. Greeted by a large John Deere tractor sitting on advanced Michelin Ultra Flex tires with a state-of-the-art central tire inflation system created to increase work efficiency by up to 4% in farming environments, media saw first-hand how Michelin is collaborating with various industries to create customized sustainable products without compromising on performance. Other product demonstrations included an all-electric Freightliner e-Cascadia on Michelin XLEZ+ tires to showcase developments in trucking and a Symbio hydrogen fuel cell co-developed via a joint venture between Michelin, Stellantis, and Forvia. Each exhibit came equipped with a Michelin engineer who contextualized the product and its sustainability contributions.
The main attraction was the on-track experience, as Michelin drivers allowed reporters to ride shotgun and experience the feeling of recyclable and renewable tires first-hand. Michelin cued up a range of vehicles including a Lucid Air Sapphire EV, a Mercedes-AMG EQS, a Porsche Taycan, a Genesis GV60, and a base-model Ford Explorer to race around the track, showcasing the performance of its 42% sustainable-material tires put under extreme pressure and speed. Take it from Erin Pustay Beaven at Rubber News: “These tires, these everyday-SUV-suited, 42-percent-sustainable-materials tires were built as much for safety as they were sustainability. And that was the point of letting me drive on them.”
After the action-packed day, guests were treated to an overnight stay at the Carneros Resort and Spa in California’s wine country. A venue that is also a sustainability-certified, Michelin Guides-recommended establishment.
Success was defined by presenting a 360-degree view of Michelin’s sustainability initiatives across all its core business areas – from consumer to B2B. While Michelin is well-known for its best-in-class tires, the goal of this event was to show attendees that they can rely on Michelin to be at the forefront of sustainable innovation in every facet of life: from the tires on your car, to the food you eat and the hotel you stay at, to the investment opportunities that propel industries toward a carbon-zero future.
Thankfully, that came through and was exemplified by the event’s resulting coverage across US and Canadian media:
