History

For over a hundred years the story of Pirelli tyres has been the story of the automobile itself, the core business of a brand that was born in 1872 and started producing tyres from the late nineteenth century. 1901 saw the introduction of the "Ercole" that equipped some of the earliest cars on the road while the "Milano" bicycle tyres were introduced even earlier in 1890.

The company's first victory in a motor race came in the Peking-Paris event in 1907, heralding a tradition of sporting success on two and four wheels consolidated over the years by figures such as Nuvolari, Ascari and Fangio. Over a century of technological excellence and production innovation, from the pre-war Stella Bianca to the Cinturato radial, the wide series and the modern ultra-low profile tyres.

And over a century of internationalization: from Europe to South America, and then the United States, China and Eastern Europe.

Pirelli Tyre today is the world's fifth largest operator in terms of turnover on the tyre market, with levels of profitability among the highest in the sector. In 2005, the activities today under the aegis of Pirelli Tyre generated revenues of around 3.63 billion Euros, with a growth of almost 12% with respect to the previous year, with earnings before interests and taxes of 328 million Euros.