Pirelli at the 75th International Geneva Motor Show

2005, the Year of Innovation

Geneva, 1 March 2005 - The Geneva International Motor Show is one of the most important events of its kind worldwide and, year after year, it provides a fascinating overview of the enthralling evolution of the world of the automobile through its numerous world firsts.

Pirelli's presence at the 2005 show bears witness, first of all, to the outstanding results achieved by the Group in 2004: a year in which the company experienced a particularly positive growth trend in that it further consolidated its leading position, both in the product and manufacturing fields of the tyre market's Ultra High Performance segment.

And in the wake of those results, Pirelli Tyres has begun 2005 with a strategy of expansion in the faster growing emerging markets plus North America, as well as extending its MIRS automated production process in the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.

And that is not all. For Pirelli Tyres, 2005 is, more than anything else, the Year of Innovation, in which the company's research into tyres of the future will reach concrete conclusions. Pirelli's 2005 will see the start of a series of products that will revolutionise the concept of the tyre, which will become a more active product than ever before, and will be able to communicate with the car and driver.
Pirelli's tyre innovation walks hand-in-hand with its development partners, the most prestigious car manufacturers with whom Pirelli has always worked extremely closely. Their common objective is to provide the car with increasingly better performance, while making it safer at the same time.
So 2005 will also be a year of new sizes and homologations, which will, once again, confirm Pirelli's positive growth trend in the original equipment sector in both Europe and the United States.
Finally, Pirelli will start on the front row of the grid in motorsport with two new teams in the World Rally Championship (Peugeot and Mitsubishi) as well as Subaru; and with a renewed support for Maserati and Ferrari in the FIA-GT Championship.

The 360 commitment by Pirelli to research and innovation has been recognised many times at an international level with the most prestigious awards, including the J.D. Power and Associates Award the Group received in 2003 and the Best Innovator 2004 Award received from A.T.Kearney in association with Confindustria, the confederation of Italian industry.
The latter is in recognition of Pirelli's ability to create value through innovation. The award also constitutes new recognition of Pirelli's advanced technologies, especially the MIRS robotised system of production and the innovative CCM compound room. Patented by Pirelli, these innovations ensure a significant time and cost reductions in the production of " high range" tyres, increasing manufacturing flexibility and the quality of the product at the same time.

All Pirelli's New Developments at Geneva
As confirmation of Pirelli's undisputed leadership in top-of-the-range tyres, the Maserati MC12 reigns supreme on the Group's stand at the 75th Geneva International Motor Show, surrounded by a comprehensive range of High Performance and Ultra High Performance products in a wealth of new sizes.

The Planet Zero range, today a real P Zero Collection, is complete and is the most extensive portfolio of UHP tyres, developed to guarantee both cars and SUVs the maximum level of drivability and safety, together with extreme performance.
Pirelli's maximum attention to a range of tyres of this kind is motivated by the growing performance of cars in all segments on a global scale, as well as being part of the company's historic DNA.
Among the most important new developments, all of which will reach the marketplace by the end of March, is an escalation of sizes for the SUV segment, in particular a new Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico in size 315/40R26 and the extreme new Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico fitment of 285/30ZR22 front and 335/25ZR22 rear.
Great attention has also been paid to the development of Tuner sizes, especially for extreme tuning, with the Pirelli P Zero Nero in 245/30ZR22, 255/30ZR21 and 295/25ZR21.

As far as MIRS line tyres are concerned, Pirelli is completing its Run Flat Eufori@ range from 17 inch to 19 inch diameter products, original equipment on the BMWs 1 and 3 Series on display at Geneva.

Among Pirelli's new developments on car manufacturers' stands at Geneva are the 18-inch P Zero Nero on the Alfa Romeo Brera, the 19-inch P Zero Nero on the Fiat Croma and the 17-inch P Zero Nero on the Lancia Ypsilon Sport.
Meanwhile, the new Ferrari 430 Spider and the Bentley Continental Flying Spur are equipped with P Zero Rosso in 19 inch and the new Saab 9-3 SW with 18-inch P Zero Rosso.

As tradition demands, Geneva is also the stage on which the significant new prototypes are presented by the various car stylists. Among them, the latest offerings from Giugiaro, Fioravanti, Castagna, all, of course, on Pirelli.

Original Equipment Grows in Europe and the USA
Pirelli's presence in the UHP, HP and SUV original equipment segment grew in 2004 through new alliances with the world's most prestigious car manufacturers.

On the European front, Pirelli continues its close collaboration with the Peugeot, Porsche, Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, Daimler Chrysler, GM and Fiat groups, while in the United States the Detroit Motor Show, North America's top event of its kind, saw Pirelli tyres fitted to a Cadillac STS-V for the first time, as well as on numerous Ford cars, including the Pick-Up F150 Harley, Five Hundred Mustang GT, Freestyle and Cobalt Supercharged.
Also the two concept cars, " Jaguar Advanced Lightweight Coup Concept" and the new " Ford Mercury Meta One Concept" , were given their world preview at Detroit on Pirelli tyres.

In the light of these important results, and as planned last year, Pirelli expects to achieve a further increase in its presence in the United States original equipment sector during 2005, as well as reinforce its position with the European manufacturers. This latest phase, which is in constant evolution, always sees greater matchings linked to the most innovative product choices. In particular, Pirelli's Run Flat technology is attracting a growing number of car manufacturers, who find an increasing stimulus to fit them to their new cars as original equipment as more versions and sizes are made available by Pirelli.

Tyres are becoming ever more 'interactive' with the car and are, above all, able to ensure driving pleasure and style, together with maximum performance and safety, an aspect always strongly felt at Pirelli. In a constantly evolving world market, solutions and equipment are put to severe test in the marketplace by the choice made by the car manufacturers and end users. In this scenario, which privileges safety and performance, the Pirelli Run Flat technology is rewarded on a global scale, as a result of which the company continues to believe and invest in it with decision.

Pirelli's Year of Innovation begins there. It starts with Hi-Tech products and systems that are ever more integrated, and channelled towards exploiting maximum technology in one single direction. All aimed at jointly assuring the utmost product excellence and total safety, end user comfort and complete interactivity of the tyre, which today, more than ever goes way beyond its basic functions of assuring adhesion in the most difficult road and weather conditions.

Motorsport: a year worth3
Growing results. Growing in product, in original equipment. Pirelli will double its activities in motor sport, too, in 2005. In fact, it will triple it.

The Maserati MC12 Racing displayed on the Pirelli stand sums up Pirelli's ambitions on the circuit without a shadow of a doubt: continue to win with the Trident supercar, which, immediately after its debut last September, dominated two of the last three races that brought the FIA GT Championship to a close. The adventure continues. This year, the Maserati-Pirelli duo is aiming really high in what is the top motor racing series on the race tracks of the world for Grand Touring cars.

As well as the FIA GT Championship, the MC12 fitted exclusively with Pirelli will take on the ALMS Championship (the American LeMans Series), which will bring back the magnificence of the most fascinating GT cars to the circuits of North America this year. And that will be the star series in a motor racing project that has linked the P Zero with the twin brands of Maserati and Ferrari for several years. The Prancing Horse won its FIA GT debut race with the 575 GTC at the end of 2003, has dominated the last two FIA GT seasons with the 550 Maranello and will compete in the 1000 Kilometre European LeMans Series this year.

But if the Ferrari-Maserati duo does, in fact, double Pirelli's presence on the racing circuits, the force fitted with Pirelli P Zero tyres in rallying has been tripled. After competing for the World Rally Championship for 11 seasons exclusively with Subaru - with the exception of a few years with Ford and Seat - the tyres that have won 19 world rally titles will also be fitted to the Peugeots and Mitsubishis this year.

The project is of great significance and is extremely ambitious. Peugeot has achieved an impressive continuity of results in the last 20 years of rallying: four times World Rally Champion in the mid-Eighties (among drivers' and constructors' titles), and another five times between 2000 and today. The French team's ambition to continue to win is comparable with that of Mitsubishi, the team that dominated the world rally scene without a break between 1996 and 1999. If we add Subaru, who won six world championships with Pirelli between 1995 and 2003, to these two brands, their presence on the special stages of the world assumes a mission of maximum level. A mission that began in the best way possible in 2005, with the Subaru of Petter Solberg dominating the snow and ice of the Rally of Sweden in mid-February.

It was a great victory for the sport, product and technology. In Sweden, Pirelli debuted a new snow tyre with studs embedded directly into the tread during its production process and not afterwards, as has been the tradition. It was yet another of an unending series of demonstrations of the concept that has always been part of Pirelli's attitude to motor sport: that it is not just racing terrain but an outstanding mobile research and development test laboratory.

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