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The most visible illustration of this is our campaign that says that a Michelin
tire at the end of its life is still very safe, even though it is worn. That is very dif-
ferent from some other companies that sell less expensive tires. Everyone can
make a tire that is perfect when it is new. But a few weeks later, if you measure
the performance again, many of these tires are already worn down, and this can
be dangerous. A company that makes tires of this sort will increase unit sales, but
it has to produce many more tires, and use twice as much energy and raw mate-
rial, for the same outcome for the tire customer.
Michelin chose instead to make tires that are roadworthy longer. We in-
vested a lot of money in the innovation needed to produce tires that don’t wear
out as quickly. The profits come from the valuation of that technology and the
prices we can charge for our products. That in turn helps the environment. With
decisions like this, you do good for the company, for your reputation, for the en-
vironment, for the customer, and for your workers. Last but not least, you en-
courage the whole industry to be better.
The spirit of alliance
S+B: You are going from being CEO of a company that is a model of a sustain-
able enterprise to becoming chair of Renault and of the Renault–Nissan–Mit-
subishi alliance board — an enterprise in a very challenging situation, with
one of the largest shareholders being the French government. How did you
decide to make this move? Did President Macron ask you to consider the job?
SENARD: Yes, along with other government and financial leaders, he did. At
some point I said, OK, I can try. It is a way for me to serve the industry.
As we seek solutions to the alliance’s problems, we will try to reclaim the
spirit that it had back when it was formed in the late 1990s. Renault had very
strong national roots; it had started as a French state-owned company. The same
was true of Nissan in Japan.