Great Britain

"In Clermont-Ferrand, the old Carmes workshops and the Estaing storage center, built on the eve of the war, were joined in 1924 by the gigantic Cataroux factory, today still the largest in the group. Outside of France, over the years and protectionist regulations, Bibendum has established itself in Great Britain, in Stoke-on-Trent (1927), opened a spinning mill in Italy (1927), and expanded in Germany in Karlsruhe (1931). It’s a lot."

"François Michelin also knows that he still has much to do to consolidate the foundations of his own house. Everywhere in nearly all the markets that Bibendum has conquered through sheer effort, Bridgestone, the new Japanese tire giant, threatens to establish itself. The Japanese brand supplies half of the Japanese automobile production, which became the world’s largest in 1980 and 1981. In the United States, it quickly delivered to Michelin’s customers at a time when Michelin was out of stock. It plans to purchase the Firestone plant in Nashville, Tennessee, and increase its production capacity to 3,000 truck tires per day in 1983. In Europe, it is laying the groundwork, making contacts, and beginning to supply Scandinavia, Great Britain, and West Germany. It, too, is eyeing Formula 1. The result: a wild growth, as fast or faster than the French group over the past five years, with revenues of three billion dollars in 1980 (nearly seventy percent of which was from tires) achieved with only thirty-one thousand employees, gross self-financing margins of twenty-five percent, and a net profit nearly twice that of Michelin in 1980. Bridgestone, in recent years, has also surpassed General Tire, Uniroyal, BF Goodrich, Continental, Dunlop, and Pirelli to occupy the fourth place worldwide. A formidable challenger."

"Thanks to countless industrialists from all backgrounds, obscure or famous inventors multiplying mechanical, electrical, aerodynamic improvements, the automotive boom continues. France is the leading car producer on the European continent and — by far — the largest exporter. In 1907, French manufacturers produced more than twenty-five thousand cars (they quintupled their production since 1900), twice as many as Great Britain (twelve thousand), nearly five times as many as Germany (five thousand one hundred fifty), ten times as many as Italy (two thousand five hundred)."

"God’s children had, on their part, shown greater interest in the conglomerate, and all had sat on the board. But the daughter Kirsten, who was the oldest and Ruben’s favorite, had not wanted to work actively within the companies. However, from an early age, she showed that she wanted to take over the management of Simontorp and especially the horse breeding on the farm. Ruben moved abroad in 1969, and Kirsten successfully managed Simontorp until 1977 when she was the first in God’s family to move from Sweden. After the move abroad, she started a successful horse breeding business in Great Britain and devoted most of her energy to it. At this time, she had proven to be the most business-savvy of God’s children."

"“Be on your guard, because I am going to speak in French, a formidable undertaking and one which will put great demands on your friendship with Great Britain.” After the war, he addressed a French audience in English: “I have often made speeches in French, but that was wartime, and I do not wish to subject you to the ordeals of darker days.”"

"“In the autumn of 1940, I was in Châteauroux, and Hitler had just lost the Battle of Britain. One of my American friends, Ben Smith, who had contacts with ‘Intelligence’, insisted, despite enormous difficulties, on coming to announce a crucial piece of news to me: ‘Now that Hitler has had to retreat,’ he told me, ‘a treaty will soon be concluded between the United States and Great Britain, providing, in the form of a lend-lease, American military assistance to the British.’ He explained everything he knew about the anticipated course of operations. Listening to him, I recalled this very true statement: the nation that controls the seas always ends up winning. From that moment on, I knew that the right choice was the Allies’. I told myself: let’s play it, and I made that choice and have always kept it.”"