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Michelin Tires Drive Environmental Awareness Across The United States as Part of the 'Clean Air Green Tour'

GREENVILLE, S.C., April 22 -- Tire performance plays a significant role in reducing the nation's environmental footprint. This month, Michelin is teaming up with the "Clean Air Green Tour" to educate consumers on the benefits of products designed to lessen the environmental impact. The 60-city tour promises to reach an average of 1,500 American consumers per stop.

"Many consumers do not realize the impact tires can have on the environment," said Parmeet Grover, brand director, Michelin North America. "Our goal in partnering with the Clean Air Green Tour is to reinforce our message that tires make a difference. At Michelin, we are committed to providing consumers with a wide range of environmentally-friendly passenger car and light-truck tires (marked with a Green X(R)) that achieve the highest levels of energy-efficiency without sacrificing other performances such as safety or mileage."

In addition to featuring passenger car and light-truck tires for consumers, the tour will cover over 30,000 miles in a solar-powered bus fitted with MICHELIN(R) X One(R) wide single tires.

In response to dwindling energy resources and long-term oil price increases, Michelin is fully committed to playing its part to limit the impact of these new realities for consumers. For more than 16 years, Michelin has been dedicated to the research and development of energy-efficient tires. Most recently, the MICHELIN(R) HydroEdge(R) passenger car tire was launched with a Michelin "Green X(R)" marking on the sidewall and the MICHELIN(R) Energy Saver All-Season(R) tire will be launching in June. Both tires offer consumers increased levels of energy-efficiency and lower CO2 emissions.

"The MICHELIN(R) Green X(R) marking indicates a level of energy-efficiency among the highest in the market and the most efficient usage of raw materials possible in the design and construction of the tire, reducing its weight," added Grover.

This year marks the third "Clean Air Green Tour", which launched on April 14 in New York City. The tour will make stops at 40 Lowe's stores, 14 Wal-Mart Supercenters and eight major festivals covering over 30,000 miles. In addition, they will hold tree plantings in five cities and host a community clean-up day.

About the Clean Air Green Tour Foundation

The Clean Air Green Tour Foundation has been helping the United States environment in education and projects. If you are interested in donating to the Clean Air Green Tour Foundation, a non-profit 503c go to: http://www.cleanairgreentour.org/. For more information on the tour, visit www.cleanairgreentour.com.

About Michelin

Dedicated to the improvement of sustainable mobility, Michelin designs, manufactures and sells tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks, motorcycles and the space shuttle. The company also publishes travel guides, hotel and restaurant guides, maps and road atlases. Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America (www.michelinman.com) employs more than 22,600 and operates 19 major manufacturing plants in 17 locations.

For more information, visit www.michelinmedia.com

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040818/MICHELIN