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Michelin North America Chairman And President Micali To Retire In Third Quarter 2008

Dick Wilkerson, executive vice president of personnel, Michelin North America, to succeed Micali

Release date: January 22, 2008 CLERMONT-FERRAND, FRANCE AND GREENVILLE, --

Michelin Group announced today that Jim Micali, chairman and president of Michelin North America, has decided to retire effective Aug. 15, 2008. Micali, 60, assumed his current post in 1996 and has been with the company since 1977.

Micali will be succeeded by Dick Wilkerson, currently Michelin North America's executive vice president for personnel. Wilkerson, 60, was appointed to his current post in 2006 and has been with the company for 28 years. Before his current appointment, Wilkerson was chief operating officer for the North American specialty tire product lines and had responsibility for the earthmover original equipment business worldwide.

After his retirement, Micali will consult for Michelin North America and for several companies in South Carolina.

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.michelin-us.com) has more than 22,500 and operates 19 major manufacturing plants in 17 locations.

Jim Micali
Jim Micali was appointed chairman and president of Michelin North America in 1996. He received his legal degree from Boston College Law School in 1973. After practicing law with Higgins, Cavanagh & Cooney in Providence, R.I., Micali joined Michelin in 1977 and held a number of positions in the legal department, including two assignments in France, through 1984. He was named general counsel and secretary for Michelin North America in 1985, and became executive vice president of the North American legal and finance functions in 1990.

Micali was named a member of the Michelin Group Executive Council in 2001. He served the rubber industry as chairman of the board of the Rubber Manufacturers Assn. for a one-year term concluding in 2002. He was elected to the board of directors of Sonoco in 2003 and served on the board of directors of Lafarge North America from 2004 to 2006. He was elected to the board of SCANA Corp. in 2008. In 2004, the Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership at Furman University named Micali a distinguished senior fellow in political economy and leadership management. He is a past chairman of the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance and currently chairs the S.C. Chamber of Commerce.

Micali is a guest lecturer at Furman University and previously served on the board of directors for St. Francis Hospital in Greenville. He has also received the Order of Merit from the French government.

Richard Wilkerson
Richard (Dick) Wilkerson was appointed executive vice president of personnel for Michelin North America in 2006. Wilkerson is also responsible for the environment and prevention department.

After earning a civil engineering degree from Duke University, Wilkerson spent 12 years with Procter & Gamble in manufacturing, engineering and human resources before joining Michelin. Wilkerson has spent 28 years with Michelin in manufacturing and personnel positions in the United States, France and Scotland. Before his current appointment, he was chief operating officer for the company's North American specialty tire product lines activities and had responsibility for the earthmover original equipment business worldwide.

Wilkerson is active in the Greenville community, having served on the boards of the Greenville Urban League, the Chamber of Commerce, the University Center and the Greenville Symphony.