Increased Tire Production at the Kuwana Plant(11,May,2005)

Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (president:　： Yoshio Kataoka) will increase the volume of high-inch and other passenger car and light truck tires produced at the Kuwana Plant (Toin-cho, Inabe-gun, Mie) by approximately 1,000,000 units and 120,000 units a year, respectively, by the end of 2005. The company plans to invest 2.8 billion yen in this production buildup, designed to address flourishing tire demand in overseas markets.

Toyo Tire is in the process of strengthening its global production and supply organization. The company is working to build a manufacturing base in North America, raise the production capacity of a joint-venture plant in China, and launch another joint-venture plant for truck and bus tires in China. The increase in output at the Kuwana Plant is part of this ongoing effort.