Sustainability Channel

METZELER ELEPHANT BRAND IS "BESTE MARKE 2009!"

For the second consecutive year, Metzeler has been elected the king of European motorcycle tyres. The ‘Beste Marke 2009‘ award has been made to the company after a survey carried out by ‘Motorrad‘, the authoritative magazine of publisher Motor Presse and a publication which has grown substantially in Europe over the last three years.

Divided into 160 categories, from brakes to crash helmets to riding boots, the survey asked the magazine’s readers to express their preferences on the basis of a number of important parameters, like availability, value, safety and communication.

In this year’s ‘tyre’ category, 65.8% of the 30,000 readers from 12 different countries who responded to the survey said ‘Metzeler’. A matter of great satisfaction and the result of the Interact™ communications programme, which enabled Metzeler to enter into direct contact with the world of the motorcyclist in 2008, involving them in events and initiatives on the web, like the Roadtec Z6 Interact™ competition and the 2008 Experts on the Road trip.

“This is a fantastic result and confirms that all our activities for this brand have been well received by the marketplace and it also shows what a strong value this brand in Germany represents“, stated head of marketing and sales, Michael Müller. “We see this title as an example of our focus on producing safe and high quality products which are engineered for motorcycle riders, by motorcycle riders. We value this award and will fight to achieve additional successes in 2009.“

PIRELLI WORLD SUSTAINABILITY LEADER

For the second year in succession, Pirelli has become the world champion of sustainability in the ‘Auto Parts and Tyre’ sector.

This prestigious position has been confirmed once again by the Sam Group (Sustainable Asset Management), the world’s leading company in analysis for investment. Pirelli is shown as being in the first place overall in the ‘auto accessories and tyre’ section of the ’2009 Sustainability Yearbook’.

Important recognition for Pirelli, considering that this year’s 10th edition of the SAM Sustainability Yearbook is the most complete and authoritative publication in the world on sustainability trends and company performance. Of the 1,000 multinationals analysed, 357 were promoted in sustainability, indexed in 57 different sectors of business.

As well as the title ‘Sector Leader’, Pirelli has also received the honour of ‘Gold Class Company’ for scoring the highest number of points in the SAM Group’s severe evaluation.

PIRELLI "BEST INVESTOR" IN THE DISTRICT OF GORJ

Pirelli & C. Eco Technology is the best investor of the year in the District of Gorj, Rumania. That has been established by Antena 1, the top commercial television channel with national coverage in the country, which instituted the ‘Best Investor’ award last year together with others for the companies and institutions of various sectors.

The presentation ceremony, organised by Antena 1 in cooperation with the District of Gorj and the Municipality of Targu-Jiu, took place on 20 December in the Targu-Jiu capital and involved numerous members of the local media.

An important closing of the year for Pirelli Eco Technology, the Pirelli Group company committed to the reduction of polluting emissions which, on 5 December, celebrated the fact that it had made its first anti-particulate filter in its Rumanian factory at Bumbesti-Jiu, one of the seven cities in the District of Gorj in the historic region of Oltenia.