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Bridgestone Firestone Off Road Tire Company Offers Solutions To Extend Tire Life

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 23, 2007) – Bridgestone Firestone Off Road Tire Company (BFOR) is now offering Continuum® brand retread materials from Bandag® which will provide an enhanced total tire management solution to extend the off-road tire life and performance for BFOR’s dealers and end-user customers. BFOR is a division of Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT).

Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. (BSAH), the parent company of BFNT completed its merger with Bandag, Incorporated (Bandag) on May 31, 2007. The merger gives BFNT a strong advantage over the competition by making Continuum brand retread materials available to all BFNT customers.

BSAH is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest manufacturer of quality tires and other rubber products. Bandag is a world leader in the retreading business.

The integration of retread tires manufactured with Continuum-brand retread materials into a total tire life-cycle management program will help streamline tire programs, thus reducing operating costs. This new combined offering will enable fleets and other end-users to further extend tire life by matching the Continuum-brand retread materials with the quality of Bridgestone brand casings.

“Many OTR fleets don’t realize the value of their casings, which often are worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Re-using quality casings by retreading them allows the fleet to further reduce its operating cost per hour,” says Shawn Rasey, Executive Director, Off Road Tires, Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC.

“Particularly in today’s environment where we still have a gap between available tires and demand, offering retread tires manufactured with Continuum will demonstrate to end-users our commitment to partnering with them to provide new and innovative solutions,” added Rasey. A number of OTR fleets who traditionally have used Bandag retreads for commercial trucks are now turning to retreading to keep their OTR equipment operating. Continuum-brand precure materials offer more flexible application methods than other retread tire manufacturers. Tread designs are available for conventional, low profile and foam-filled tire casings. Fourteen tread designs in 40 sizes are available for equipment used in construction, mining, logging, utility and marine port industries. Retread sizes are available ranging from 13.00 – 24 to 27.00 – 49 standard base tires and 15.5 – 25 to 33.25 – 33 wide base tires. According to Rasey, “Continuum-brand precure materials from Bandag provide a quality precure retread for the end-user an fits into our focus on quality and customer commitment.”

About Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC.:
Nashville-based Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. BFNT develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone, and associate brand tires. The company is focused on wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off-road, motorcycle, agricultural and other tires to its customers in North America.

About Bridgestone Firestone Off Road Tire:
Nashville-based Bridgestone Firestone Off Road Tire, a division of Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC, is solely dedicated to the marketing and sales of off road tires. As both an original equipment and replacement tire supplier, the company offers the industry’s most comprehensive selection of radial and bias off road products, has sales and distribution outlets through more than 1,500 independent and company owned commercial outlets and is a pioneer of proprietary software TreadStat Tire and Rim Management System.

About Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc.:
Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. (BSAH) is the U.S. subsidiary of the Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest tire and rubber company. BSAH and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers, and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies also produce air springs, roofing materials, synthetic rubber and industrial fibers and textiles and operate the world’s largest chain of automotive tire and service centers.

About Bridgestone Bandag, LLC:
Bandag is the operating name of Bridgestone Bandag, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. Bandag manufactures retreading materials and equipment for its worldwide network of more than 800 franchised dealers that produce and market retread tires and provide tire management services. Bandag’s traditional business serves end-users through a wide variety of products offered by dealers, ranging from tire retreading and repairing to tire management systems outsourcing for commercial truck fleets. Tire Distribution Systems, Inc. (TDS), a wholly owned subsidiary, sells and services new and retread tires. In addition, Bandag has an 87.5 percent interest in Speedco, Inc., a provider of on-highway truck lubrication and routine tire services to commercial truck owner-operators and fleets.