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Detroit 2011: The Michelin Design Challenge Celebrates its 10th Anniversary!

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Luc Gagné
Detroit, Michigan – Kelly Stieler of Lake Orion, Michigan, and three other College for Creative Studies (CCS) students took top honors in the Annual Michelin-CCS Design Competition held in early in December. Their creations were on display at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, along with those of other CCS students who took part in this competition.

Kelly Stieler student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, took top honors in the Annual Michelin-CCS Design Competition. Her creations and those of other participants were on display at the Detroit Auto Show’s Michelin booth. (Photo: Michelin)

Thirty-one seniors participated this year, each submitting concepts of a pickup truck and a tire and wheel assembly inspired by the theme “Plus 10: The Best is Yet to Come”. An exercize that translated into an invitation to share a vision of transportation means for the year 2021.


A concept named Michelin Pivot
Kelly Stieler won for the vehicle as well as the tire and wheel designs. This double first-place finish garnered her two US$1,250 scholarship checks. Her vehicle called Michelin Pivot would be a lightweight electric 2-seater pickup. Equipped with four independent pivoting wheels it would facilitate parallel-parking. The truck’s bed could be lengthened, shortened or folded flat to match cargo-carrying needs, and an air suspension could raised or lower it to facilitate loading. The wheels would be shod with tires bearing a circular tread pattern designed to minimize the wear imposed by the pivoting movement of the wheels.

Stieler’s electric pickup concept is called the Michelin Pivot. (Photo: Michelin)

The CCS competition theme mirrors Michelin's global Michelin Challenge Design (www.michelinchallengedesign.com) now in its tenth year.
This competition was created in 2001 to showcase creativity and innovation in vehicle design on a world scale around a central theme.

Each year, Michelin invites designers from around the world – individuals as well as small and large companies – to create and display significant design works that would normally not have an opportunity to be shown at a major auto show. This year, the judges reviewed a collection of over 1,000 designs submitted by participants from 78 countries.
Luc Gagné
Luc Gagné
Automotive expert
  • More than 30 years of experience as an automotive journalist
  • Over 59 test drives in the past year
  • Attended over 150 new vehicle launches in the presence of the brand's technical specialists