“This is the first time that a new tyre factory has been transformed to produce reconditioned tyres. »

Discover our company portrait in video with Laurent Cabassu, Managing Director Black Star. 🎬

BLACK STAR is a company in the south of Lyon which has existed for more than 40 years and which has always had the same activity, namely the production of reconditioned tyres for light vehicles.

LEONARD was the second life of BLACK STAR. First of all, it is the collaboration with MOBIVIA, which is an auto center brand with brands like Norauto, Midas or Carter Cash, and the association with BLACK STAR. There is a project behind it which was the takeover of this old Bridgestone factory in Béthune to transform this factory which made new tyres into a factory which makes reconditioned tyres. And the LEONARD brand is the latest addition to this collaboration.

The ambition, ultimately, is to produce up to 1 million tyres per year. And the initial ambition was, thanks to this factory, to produce a reconditioned product with a level of quality never before seen on the market. And this step has already been taken. Now, to get to the million tyres, it will take time. Because a factory must be gradually ramped up.

This is an example of a circular economy: first of all, there is the production site, since this factory was forced to close. And we took over the factory. It could potentially have become an industrial wasteland. And the second thing is the product, the LEONARD product, which is made up of two types of materials including a carcass which comes from the reuse of an old tyre.