Pirelli confirms and improves its leadership in sustainability. The ‘2010 Sustainability Yearbook’ not only places the Italian group as ‘Sector Leader’ and ‘Gold Class Company’ in the ‘Autoparts and Tyres’ sector for the third year in a row, but also awards the company, for the first time, the title of ‘Sector Mover’ thanks to further significant growth in terms of sustainable performance. Pirelli has thus obtained all three of the prestigious top titles, confirming its leadership in sustainability in its industry both at worldwide level and in Italy. 

The Italian tyremaker, returning to the world’s most prestigious rally partnering the Ford Fiesta Super 2000 driven by Mikko Hirvonen, accompanies the car to victory

Montecarlo, 23 January 2010. Pirelli returns to the Montecarlo Rally and takes the No. 1 place on the podium in the most prestigious and reknowned rally in the world, together with the debuting Ford Fiesta Super 2000 driven by Mikko Hirvonen, the only car officially fitted by Pirelli in the event. Leading from start to finish, the car driven by the Finnish star easily overcame the difficulties of the road thanks to its Pirelli Winter Sottozero and PZero tyres which, with their versatility and reliability, adapted to all the different conditions, from the ice in the mountain passes to the dry coastal asphalt.

The winning Hirvonen-Ford-Pirelli trio brought to the Monaco event the experience built up in the world WRC championship, where Milan-based Pirelli has been sole supplier of tyres since 2008.

Finnish-born Hirvonen, the 2009 world WRC vice champion, completed the rally with an overall time of 4h32′58″5, outpacing the Skoda Fabias of his compatriot Juho Hanninen and Frenchman Nicolas Vouilloz, respectively 1’51’’4 and 3’19’’1 behind.

“It was a special return for Pirelli to Monte Carlo”, said Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director. “We had only one official entry for the event, but that proved sufficient as it was the winning combination of the debuting Ford Fiesta S2000 together with Ford official works driver Mikko Hirvonen. Our P Zero and Sottozero tyres performed perfectly in the cold, snow and ice conditions of this classic Monte Carlo event. Of course we were also competing against rival tyre manufacturers, but our product technology proved superior with Mikko barely troubled, in the lead from start to finish. We now turn our attention to the first WRC event of the season, in Sweden, where as the official supplier, we will again demonstrate the superior artic performance of the Pirelli Sottozero”.

Marangoni and Pirelli Tyre signed a collaboration agreement for retreading of heavy vehicle tyres. This new agreement reinforces the previous one, signed in 2003 for Europe, and recently extended to South America where Pirelli holds undisputed leadership in truck tyres, and where Marangoni has developed an important, qualified presence in the retreaded tyres market.

For Europe, the recently signed agreement foresees the supply by Marangoni of NOVATECK marked pre-cured bands, manufactured with the original Pirelli tread design. This project, which is part of the strategy of strengthening and enlarging the supply of services by Pirelli Truck, aims to add value in particular to the new products in the 88 Series and the 01 Series, launched on the European market in 2009, characterized, among other qualities, by their high suitability for retreading.

The wide range of pre-cured bands, which will be produced by Marangoni in its factories in Germany (Hamburg) and Italy (Ferentino) will cover most applications and sizes. The bands are available with five different types of compounds, each developed specifically for the segment of use, in order to guarantee maximum performance. The business is operated by a network of selected retreaders, certified by Pirelli, who will be granted the right to use the NOVATECK brand.

The partnership between Pirelli and the retreaders, supported by the collaboration with Marangoni on the technical and industrial side, has the aim to create an extended, professional network, able to ensure both widespread geographical presence and quality of service.

The agreement is part of the Pirelli Lifecycle Management concept, a tyre value adding programmme, whose goal is reduction of the operational cost-per-kilometre and of environmental impact. This is reached through optimization of the entire lifecycle of the product, starting from the design of the new tyre, continuing with the manufacturing process, and ending with the retreading process.