New Prices Effective July 1, 2010

Milan, April 30, 2010 – Due to escalating raw material costs, Pirelli will increase prices 4% on all replacement passenger and light truck tires in the United States of America. This price increase will be effective on July 1, 2010.

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.

Pirelli Tyre strengthens its commitment to the truck sector and, from Bologna, launches the R:01 Series onto the European market. This is a tyre for industrial vehicles in the regional sector. It has been developed by Pirelli’s research centres to meet the requirements of professional operators in terms of mileage yield, reduced consumption, retreading potential and respect for the environment. Pirelli Tyre also presented the H88 Amaranto and G88 series to the international press, developed for long distance transport and for construction vehicles respectively. And the latest TS:01 series for lorries was announced. Four products which have a benefit in common: extremely low cost; and which extend the Pirelli range designed for transport professionals in order to cover 80% of the European market in those sectors with greater growth trends.

The Italian group also presented a new package of services to support operators: the Pirelli Retreading System, the renovated Pirelli system to retread tyres; CQ24 International for road assistance; and Credit Tyre, the financing system for fleets and retailers. The growing specialization of the Italian group in the transport sector has also spread to training through the magazine Truck, a new free Pirelli house organ which will be added to courses organised by the Group to continuously update and inform.

R:01 SERIES, THE ENVIRONMENT’S REGIONAL FRIEND.
First of the innovative 01 Series (available in the FR:01 version for the directional axis and TR:01 for the motor axis), these are tyres developed for regional transport.
Completely innovative in their structure, their profile and the materials used, they adopt the SATT patented process, the most advanced technology for producing truck tyres.
The main features of the R:01 Series, identifiable by the Ecoimpact icons on the side of the tyre, are:

high Mileage which places R:01 at the top of its regional category with an average yield value 30% higher than the previous product;
high retreading value, thanks to the new belt structure which, together with the SATT technology, improves the performance levels in terms of mileage during the first life of the tyre and optimises retreading during subsequent stages;
reduced rolling resistance, with benefits leading to reduced fuelling and harmful emissions and to annual fuel savings estimated at around 3%;
low noise level, and use of ecological materials, without use of highly aromatic oils (HAOF), two specifications which already meet European laws which come into effect in 2010 and 2012.

R:01 is the start of a technological evolution to include new products in the near future and representing the most advanced tyre in Pirelli’s truck range renovation process. Over the last few months, in fact, G88 and H88, for the sectors G-On/Off and H-highway respectively have been successfully launched and are characterised by their low cost (high mileage, high retreading value, fuel reduction). In September, the Pirelli range will be updated with the new ST01, a tyre designed for lorries, developed to maximise both duration of mileage yield and retreading, and to reduce fuelling.

SERVICES: RETREADING, CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TRAINING. Pirelli Tyre’s specialisation in the truck sector and closeness to transport professionals is clear not only in the renewed range of products but also in the innovative integrated services.

Firstly, the Pirelli Retreading System is based on three fundamental aspects: the quality of the tyre’s design and production, in order to optimise the retreading of the carcass; a network of Pirelli certified retreaders to extend the quality of the first life and to get more from subsequent retreads; the renewed range of Novateck segments,
dedicated trademark of the Milan based Company which, through original designs, covers the great majority of vehicle requirements for various purposes. The Pirelli retreading system emphasises the advantages of the new generation carcass quality to reduce mileage costs, lower the overall tyre running costs and reduce environmental
impact.

CQ24 International is a Pirelli road customer service offering advantages not only for road driving through on the spot assistance, but also for fleet management since it allows for cost planning thanks to lower technical downtime and simplicity of procedures.