Q1. What announcement are you making today?

Today we presented the USW with a notice of potential closure of the Oklahoma City plant by the end of this year. While no final decision has been made, the plant has not been globally competitive for years and global market forces make it virtually impossible to restore the plant to a competitive position, even with substantial new capital investment. The plant has been losing money for years, and we just can’t continue to sustain those losses without jeopardizing the health of the rest of our business. The difficult decision to issue this notice was made after serious consideration of our alternatives. We also announced that the company stands ready to negotiate in good faith with the USW over the potential closure of the Oklahoma City plant.

Q2. Why?

Simply put, we are losing an enormous amount of money at our Oklahoma City plant, and we can’t sustain such losses without jeopardizing the health of the rest of our business. Tire production in the United States is facing difficult economic times. There is fierce competition from low-cost producing countries, which makes it difficult for U.S.-based production facilities to manufacture tires at a profit. While competition is intense in all product segments, it is particularly so at the low-end of the market, where demand is also shrinking. These are the kinds of tires this plant is equipped to make. Bottom line: the tires the Oklahoma City plant can make are in a shrinking market segment and they are not profitable to make due to the plant’s cost structure. Even with substantial new capital investment to completely reconfigure and re-tool the plant to make different tires, the investment would be so substantial that we could not achieve an acceptable rate of return.

Q3. If you do decide to close the facility, when will it happen?

While a final decision has not been made to close the Oklahoma City plant, it is clear that the losses we are incurring at the plant simply cannot be sustained in the long-run. We have told the union that if a decision is made to close the plant, closure could occur around the end of the year. In that case, we anticipate that we will continue to produce tires through the end of 2006. We are committed to doing everything we can to ease the impact on our teammates and the community if the plant is closed. We will continue to provide timely and accurate information to our teammates and the community about the situation in Oklahoma City, as appropriate.

Q4. How many employees work at the Oklahoma City plant?

We have 1,423 active teammates at the Oklahoma City facility: 1,229 hourly and 194 salaried. In addition, there are 108 hourly and 50 salaried contract employees.

Q.5 Is this a union facility and if so, have you told the union about the situation?

The hourly teammates are represented by the USW. On April 28, 2006, we provided the USW leadership with the required notice of the potential closure of the plant. We also told them that the company stands ready to negotiate in good faith over the potential closure of the plant. We have in the past discussed with the union leadership the serious financial issues facing the plant.

Q.6 Does this mean the Dayton tire line is dead?

Absolutely not. Dayton will continue to be an important associate brand tire line, and we will continue to produce a wide range or sizes and styles of Dayton brand passenger and light truck tires to meet the needs of consumers and our family channel dealers.

Q.7 The state of Oklahoma has offered to provide substantial assistance to the plant to keep it open. Why not take them up on their offer?

The reality is that while we’re grateful to the local and state leadership in Oklahoma, there is little that the government can do at this point. Market conditions continue to force the plant deeper in the red and further erode its ability to compete. Taking money from the state when it is clear that new capital investment, regardless of the amount, will not address the cost issues the plant faces, or reverse the market forces that have created the competitive obstacles we are facing, would be wrong.

Q.8 When will a final decision be made on the fate of the plant?

That will depend on the outcome of our negotiations with the union.