Tokyo – The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that it will participate in the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. The 89th edition of the show will be held during 7–17 March, with press days on 5–6 March. As in 2018, the YOKOHAMA booth will include presentations related to the Company’s consumer tire strategy in its current three-year medium-term plan, “Grand Design 2020 (GD2020)”, which was implemented from 2018. Many new tire products will be on display, and a press conference introducing the new products is scheduled to be held at the YOKOHAMA booth (Hall 4, Booth No. 4231) on 5 March from 3:45 p.m.

To further promote the awareness of YOKOHAMA’s presence in the premium tire market, a key theme of GD2020’s consumer tire strategy, this year’s booth at Geneva will feature exhibits highlighting the plan’s strategies for premium car tires, winter tires, and hobby tires.

The premium-car strategy exhibit will introduce the Yokohama Rubber’s track record as a supplier of original equipment (OE) tires for many of the world’s premium car models. The display will include the “ADVAN Sport V105”, YOKOHAMA's flagship tire for high-power premium cars.

The winter-tire strategy exhibit will display several tires from YOKOHAMA’s diverse winter-tire lineup, including the “BluEarth-4S AW21”, an all-season tire for the European passenger car market; “iceGUARD iG60”, a passenger-car studless tire that achieves the highest performance levels of any studless ever produced by YOKOHAMA; and the “BluEarth＊WINTER V905”, a highly fuel-efficient winter tire for passenger car and SUVs.

The hobby tire strategy exhibit will include new street sports tires that will be sold only in Europe. The hobby tire area also will feature a mud-terrain tire for SUVs and pickup trucks making its debut on the European scene, and other products that enhance a vehicle’s image as a hobby car, including some new products targeted at historic car owners. In addition, visitors to the exhibit will be able to see a NISSAN GT-R outfitted with “ADVAN A052” street sport tires, one of the core tires in the Company’s hobby tire strategy.

This year’s YOKOHAMA booth at Geneva will also feature special corners that introduce visitors to YOKOHAMA’s involvement in the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) as supplier of control tires for the races and the Company’s partnership with English Premier League team, Chelsea FC. An additional highlight of Yokohama’s participation at the Geneva Motor Show will be the attendance of Chelsea Legend Didier Drogba. Drogba will take part in a fan Q&A at the Yokohama booth on Friday 8th March, discussing his time at Chelsea and role as a Yokohama ambassador.