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May 1, 2003 12:00 PM

Michelin will include competition and testing of commercial vehicles for the first time at the Challenge Bibendum, to be held Sept 23-25, 2003, in California.

Heavy-duty competition will be broken into several classes based on GVW: Class 6-7, pick-up and delivery vehicles, Class 8 trucks, buses (city transit and highway) and other (including military and those not fitting elsewhere).

Each class will be evaluated in four categories: emissions, noise (external), fuel economy, and acceleration. Michelin also will measure fuel use during overnight idling of Class 8 trucks.

According to Ellis Johnson, the company's manager-OE engineering, the goal of the challenge is “not to pick one superior vehicle, but allow drivers and fleets to compare current state-of-the-art to baseline performance among a variety of technologies in several weight categories.”

Named after the Michelin Man, whose official name is “Bibendum,” the challenge was launched five years ago to celebrate his 100th birthday by saluting environmental advances in the automotive industry.

For more details, access www.challengebibendum.com.