Michelin CEO Discusses Market, Dealers and More

Matthew Cabe, CEO of Michelin North America Inc., discusses demand, distribution, tariffs, how Michelin feels about its dealers and more in this interview.

MTD: Can you bring us up to speed on Michelin North America's business so far in 2025? What have been some of the company's accomplishments and challenges?

Cabe: 2025 has been an exciting year. We've had the opportunity to bring to market a lot of interesting and really elevating innovations. You’ve surely heard about what's happening in the truck and bus space and the fact we’re now bringing (out) a lot of our offerings, which were good and have been leading. But now, we’re bringing out products that are really resetting what the expectations should be of those customers. 2025 is a year where we’re bringing to the market a lot of new innovations and that’s exciting for us. That's where we like to be – in a place where we continue to innovate.

MTD: In June 2025, Michelin announced it was ending its relationship with American Tire Distributors Inc. (ATD), obviously a significant devopment. What’s been happening since then, in terms of supply and distribution through other wholesalers? What role does NTW (National Tire Warehouse) play in the distribution of Michelin products?

Cabe: First of all, I’ll say that ATD is a company with great people and we appreciated working with them for a very long time. Now with our distribution approach, we have new partners we're leaning into. NTW plays a role in that, but they're not alone. We have different wholesalers that we're working with and distribution partners that help us get the product to market. I would say that today our focus is 100% on how we make sure our product is available for the dealer when they need it and where they need it. It’s a real preoccupation of mine and something I spend a lot of time on. It’s something we’re pushing every single day - to make sure we’re getting better and better at that. And I would say, right now, the way we measure it, we’re doing pretty well. We have room to grow and we will continue to push. I’m not happy until every time they call, they can get it. But we do measure it and we’re making good strides. It's an area where Michelin has progressed significantly over the course of the last five years. We’ve invested a lot in our IT systems to make sure that we understand where our products are and to better forecast where the products need to be. We talk a lot about on-shelf availability.  Do we have four tires sitting in the right location and when one of our dealers calls and asks for it, do we have it? How do we make sure that we give them access to it and in an efficient way is one of the areas where we’re really focused today.

MTD: Talking about the retail customer, with mergers and acquisitions continuing at the retail level and to a lesser degree, the wholesale level, does this create some challengers or opportunities for Michelin?

Cabe: In distribution, I would go back to what I said a second ago. What we try to do is look across the whole network. What we’re able to do today that we weren't able to do five years ago is to map the network and to look at where’s the need, where are our products and even using some advanced simulation tools and other tools to be able to understand what's the velocity in a particular D/C and how do we make sure to get the product there, so that it can be serviced to the retailer. That’s where our focus is right now: how do we balance this, so that we can have the availability? That’s where I’d come back to: making sure that we can deliver at the highest level of efficiency.

MTD: What’s your assessment of the TBR and PLT tire markets in the U.S.? What has demand been like? What are you hearing from your customers?

Cabe: In the PLT market, we would say that it's resilient. It’s continuing to grow at about the same pace as we’ve seen in prior years. It’s kind of steadily moving on at about 1%. We do see consumer behavior kind of shifting a little bit from what we have seen in the past.  Consumers are holding onto their cars, which gives us an opportunity to bring them something maybe that they weren’t expecting. It gives us an opening there with the Defender2 product that we have out, the CrossClimate2 product that we have out and the other different options that we have for those consumers. Hopefully, we can bring something to them that will meet and exceed all of their expectations.

On the TBR side, it’s very different, I would say, for the fleets and what they're experiencing. But it gives us great opportunity again to be able to showcase how we can help fleets save money and how we can help them really be able to maximize every dollar they spend towards the tire category. We’re designing tires that can last for a million miles and four retreads. That's our aspiration and with that, we're certain that we’re going to be bringing to (fleets) opportunities that they didn’t have before, that can help them to be able to save money in one their highest categories of spend.

MTD: You mentioned retreading. How’s Michelin's retreading business in the U.S. doing?

Case: Retread is an opportunity for us to showcase sustainability and I think there’s even more opportunity there today than there has been in years past. We know the Michelin casings have a significant value because of all that innovation. People respect the Michelin casing. And I think we have an opportunity there to do even more with that.

It's a sustainability play because we’re reusing that casing and all the energy and the design work that went into that. We’re able to bring to the market retreads that have longevity and are really secure and safe. I think we have an opportunity to lean even heavier into the retread space.

In Michelin, we like to talk a lot about ‘people, profit and planet’ and somewhere along the way, we decided to talk about the fact that people times profit times planet is the right formula. That’s because we need each of those to be positive in order for what we’re doing to be positive, all-around, and to be sustainable. Retread is an option where we can really bring great innovation to the fleets ... and the ‘planet’ aspect is really a step above a new tire, especially as we're able to get more and more longevity out of that product. So I think retread is a place we can lean into even more and we probably should ... to have the opportunity to get the maximum out of those products.

MTD: Last year, I attended the Michelin Sustainability Summit and one statement that was made at the event is that Michelin’s goal is to produce tires with 100% renewable and recyclable materials by the year 2050. What kind of progress is Michelin making along those lines?

Cabe: We’re not backing away from that commitment. We're leaning into that commitment. We have to continue to create new technologies in order to get there, so we can unlock more opportunities. Recyclable materials are our goal. In IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) and in motorsports, in general, we have the opportunity to kind of push the boundaries and see what we can do in the harshest conditions. And we're going to push even further this year than we ever have and test and be able to learn from those conditions. So we’re still continuing on the path – 100% devoted to that – and I think we’re continuing to find new opportunities to be able to unlock new levels.

MTD: I want to talk about some of the other B2B products in MNA’s portfolio, specifically ag and OTR. What impact do you see tariffs potentially creating in the OTR and the ag tire market? Of course, Michelin is a global player in both areas, but specifically, as it pertains to your U.S. business...

Cabe: I think the demands are really high today in OTR, specifically. Construction is up and there’s a lot of real demand. What we're trying to do is deliver the best product there, with the durability (customers) need and make sure we continue to innovate in that space. I think there’s great opportunity because that space is moving quickly. And in the ag space, we are very much focused on ... enabling farmers to be able to maximize their productivity on the land that they have. That's where we’re focused today.

MTD: You’ve been CEO of Michelin North America for nearly a year. From 2017 through 2021, you served in a number of marketing leadership roles within the company's consumer tire business. Other than some of the trends and developments we’ve discussed already, what are some of the main differences you see in the North American market now versus then, from your current vantage point?

Cabe: Especially in 2017, 2018 and 2019, we had much less of what I would call a complex environment. It was kind of predictable. We knew what was coming. It may have been complicated, but it wasn’t so complex. We could understand what was coming and could make good, solid plans. Today, we find ourselves in a situation that's very complex and week after week, month after month, the entire environment around us is changing. It causes us to need new competencies. What we talk a lot about with our team is, ‘How do we become more and more agile? With that polar star of bringing innovation to market, how do we make sure we adapt to what's going on around us, (while) staying true to our core principles and our foundation of respect for people and who we are, as a company?’ We’re clear about that, which, by the way, opens us up to be able to be agile because we know where we’re headed ultimately. What I see today is the need for agility and our focus on being able to adapt much quicker than we did in the past.

MTD: One trend we’ve noticed over the last four to five years, certainly since COVID-19, is the gravitation of consumers toward what you may call tier-three or tier-four tires. Less expensive brands are in high demand right now – maybe at the expense of some more expensive products. How is Michelin positioning its products and brands in light of this? Certainly, you have the BFGoodrich brand and you have the Uniroyal brand, in addition to your flag brand. Any thoughts on Michelin's strategy there?

Cabe: I think that our responsibility in that space is to bring to market new innovation. That's what draws the consumer to the premium products ... by us delivering something that has the value to it that the consumer is ready to spend their money on. And that's where we focus our effort: how do we continue to unlock new products, like all-weather products, or (as) we talked about, our one million-mile casing? How do we elevate, so that the value we provide is at the right level (and) we pull consumers into that?

MTD: What can we expect to see from Michelin North America during the rest of this year and next year and do you have any specific messages for your distributor and dealer network, knowing that you rely on independent distribution to get your products out there?

Cabe: I think what you’ll see out of us in 2025 and 2026 is a continual push for new products to come to market. You’ll continue to see us ramping up and delivering new products, so expect to continue to see that and us to be delivering on our promises.

What I would say to our dealer network is first, thank you. We do 100% rely on our independent dealer network to be able to do what we do. We couldn’t do what we do without them and so (we’re) incredibly appreciative for how they position our products, for how they tell the Michelin story to the consumer and are able to share with them the value that we’re bringing. It is not lost on me at all how important the dealer network is to supporting our ambition because they are the ones in front of the consumer. And I’m very, very appreciative of the effort they put into that – on our behalf and on the consumers’ behalf.