Michelin looks for grip in Korea with Tyremore tire, service center franchise
Published: 13 Jan. 2025, 16:40
Updated: 13 Jan. 2025, 18:20
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- CHO YONG-JUN
- [email protected]
![Michelin Korea’s managing director, Jerome Vincon, left, and Tyremore's franchise manager, Kim Sung-gun, during a franchise-launching event held at Lotte Hotel in Jung District, central Seoul, on Jan. 13. [TYREMORE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/13/76158541-f98a-4331-aba2-06c9e3b0db15.jpg)
Michelin Korea’s managing director, Jerome Vincon, left, and Tyremore's franchise manager, Kim Sung-gun, during a franchise-launching event held at Lotte Hotel in Jung District, central Seoul, on Jan. 13. [TYREMORE]
Michelin, the French tire giant, plans to expand its tire and light maintenance service by franchising its Tyremore centers in Korea.
Tyremore entered the local market in 2023, directly operating a Munjeong branch in Songpa District, southern Seoul. After obtaining the right to operate a franchise-based business, Michelin hopes to add more than 100 stores to its network across the country within the next three years.
“Customers don’t want to go somewhere to change their tires and drive elsewhere to change their engine oil […] they would rather do all the maintenance at the same time,” Tyremore's franchise manager, Kim Sung-gun, said during Monday’s franchise-launching event held at Lotte Hotel in Jung District, central Seoul.
“We are capitalizing on 30 years of experience worldwide and more than 7,000 stores […] so we are very confident that we will be able to provide premium service,” Michelin Korea’s managing director, Jerome Vincon, said.
The firm operates similar networks under varying names in different regions: Euromaster in Europe, Tire Centers in the United States and Tyreplus in the Middle East. In Korea, Michelin will have to compete with Hankook Tire & Technology’s T’Station branches.
Michelin said it also logs a car’s status in its database when it enters a Tyremore service station, which is used to remind drivers when they have to change their tires or engine oil. The Tyremore branches will be offering light maintenance that takes “less than an hour after the car goes on the lift,” according to the company.
The stores, despite being Michelin franchises, will sell “any tire brand that consumers want.”
Kim said the centers will be bright and clean, as well as open and transparent in their operations.
“There are many types of cars and tires that need to be replaced [and] the average size of the tire market is increasing year after year in Korea,” the managing director said. “The Korean automotive market has always been highly technical and always advanced [so] we make sure to bring everything that Michelin has.”
BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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