Michelin hopes to make a profit

French group Michelin estimates it will see a profit this year for the first time since entering the Romanian market, in 2001. “For this year, we intend to have a 20-25% increase in turnover against the previous year, and to make profit in Romania,” stated Jean Marc Gebhart, chairman of Michelin Romania. Last year, Michelin posted a turnover worth some 200 million euros in Romania, an increase of 40% against the previous year. The pace was ten times faster than the average pace of growth for the whole group. “The development potential of the Romanian market is very strong, much stronger than in other countries such as Italy, France, Germany, which are now on the defensive, in a position where they need to solve their problems or to cut their losses. Romania is still on the offensive, as is Poland,” commented Gebhart. ZF