'Begins construction of Laurens Proving Grounds site for testing tires in real-life situations. 1978 'Opens Spartanburg plant, which produces commercial truck tires. 1979 'Opens plant in Dothan, Ala., which makes light truck tires and bias mini spare tires. 1980 'Opens plant in Lexington to produce passenger car/light truck tires. 'Purchases Uniroyal-Goodrich Tire Co., adding eight plants across North America. 1992 'Michelin introduces low-rolling resistance truck radials, which deliver fuel savings of 8 percent. 1993 'Green X tires are introduced in the United States on vehicles made by Honda, BMW and Mercedes. 1994 'Launches the Michelin Energy tire line, which increases fuel efficiency.