Toyo Tire Europe to Support Dakar Rally Team（23, October, 2006）

Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (President: Yoshio Kataoka) announced today that Toyo Tire Europe GmbH (President: Takeo Suzuki), its tire sales company in Neuss, Germany, has decided to offer off-road tire support for the Tecnosport Italia racing team (Driver: Kenjiro Shinozuka, Vehicle: Nissan Pathfinder), which will participate in the Euromilhoes Dakar 2007. Toyo and Mr. Shinozuka have also agreed to sign a technical advisory contract for the development of SUV tires, particularly rally raid tires.

Formerly known as “The Paris Dakar Rally,” the Dakar Rally is an annual off-road race which spans the European and African Continents and contains the three classes of cars, motorbikes, and trucks. The Dakar 2007 will be raced over the route from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon to the Senegalese capital of Dakar from January 6 - 21, 2007. Traversing through the Sahara Desert with few communities or aid stations along the way and lasting more than two weeks, the Dakar Rally is often quoted as the toughest endurance race in the world.

In the European market, Toyo Tire Europe GmbH is increasing its focus on the marketing of SUV tires as one of the key categories, in addition to ultra-high-performance tires. We hope that this support agreement will help improve our technological skills in off-road tires and SUV tires in general and also enhance Toyo’s brand image.