February 19, 2001, Tokyo-The Yokohama Rubber Company Ltd. today announced that it decided to join RubberNetwork.com as its seventh member company.

In addition to pro-actively supporting the start up of RubberNetwork.com in Asia, Yokohama plans to utilize the RubberNetwork.com services which include: Supply Chain Management, Procurement from standardized catalogs, Order Management, Requests for Quotation and Auctioning. Through the use of these services, Yokohama expects to expand their supplier base, and improve supply chain efficiencies for raw materials, thus achieving significant enhancement in purchasing efficiency.

RubberNetwork.com is an independent company created in October 2000 jointly by Continental Tires AG, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Groupe Michelin, Pirelli SpA, and Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. as the first, comprehensive, electronic marketplace to serve the tire and rubber industry. Total tire and rubber company purchases represent more than $50 billion a year. The exchange is scheduled to launch its first North American Business Release in April 2001. Business Releases in Europe and Asia will follow the North American Release.