- Yokohama

Introduction
Tyres, Technologies & More
I am pleased to extend a very warm welcome
from Düsseldorf to everyone in the European
Yokohama family, and introduce you to the first
issue of ‘Yokohama Life’.
Yokohama Life will be delivered regularly,
straight to your inbox, and aims to keep the
Yokohama family up-to-date with all the latest
news and events within Europe, as well as giving
an insight into our international activities.
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish
everyone a prosperous 2008 and we hope that
you enjoy Yokohama Life.
Regards
Felix Graf von Westphalen
European Marketing Manager
Yokohama Europe GmbH
New European website
Yokohama Europe is happy to announce the launch of
a new European-dedicated website. The new website
contains information on products, distributors and
the Yokohama Company worldwide alongside a
soon-to-be-added fully comprehensive media and
motorsport section.
“The new website is intended to give customers,
dealers and media outlets a central platform to explore
Yokohama Europe,” said Felix Graf von Westphalen,
Yokohama’s European Marketing Manager.
“It will also move the company forward in its
marketing and communications by allowing easy access
to all relevant news and products,” he continued.
Speed Racer
Yokohama’s ADVAN tyres were named the official tyre of the
Warner Bros. movie Speed Racer, in the new action-packed
family film that has hit cinemas.
Yokohama has a product placement agreement with the
makers of the film providing the Yokohama tyres on the Mach 5,
the hero’s car. Yokohama is also supporting the extensive
promotional activities for the film in major markets around
the world.
Speed Racer actors Matthew Fox, Emile Hirsch, John Goodman,
Christina Ricci and Susan Sarandon stopped by the Yokohama
paddock at the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix in April for a photo
session with drivers Gerardo Bonilla and Ben Devlin, alongside
the Yokohama sponsored Mazda LMP2 race car.
Yokohama Russia was also pro-active regarding the
association, they had an advertising banner of 221 metres x
15 metres promoting both the movie as well as the Yokohama
product range, in the Red Square, Moscow.
www.speedracermovie.co.uk
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march 2008 • issue 1
life
life
march 2008
Tyres, Technologies & More
switzerland
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WTCC Kart Event
To celebrate the start of the 2008 motorsport season, in January 2008,
Yokohama held the WTCC-kart event, inviting all Swiss car importers and
the media to take part in the well loved go-kart race in Payerne, Switzerland.
Drift
challenge
In February, the first
‘Drift Challenge’ was
held at the Lingières
Circuit, the former
racetrack at the foot
of the Chasserals in
Switzerland. However,
due to the warm
temperature and
the lack of snow, the originally planned Snow and Ice
Drift Challenge was not possible and the event was
transformed into the Sun and Fun Drift Challenge instead!
england
Tyre
Autosport
presentation
International 2008
More than 85,000 motorsport
enthusiasts attended Europe’s largest
and most important motorsport
show, Autosport International in January at the
Birmingham NEC. The UK distributor for Yokohama
tyres, Yokohama HPT Ltd, was present with a full
range of road and competition tyres on-display
as well as the WTCC Championship winning car
of Andy Priaulx. Racing fans were able to enjoy
highlights of the WTCC that were broadcast from
the Yokohama stand during the four-day show.
Germany
Yokohama
want to see women win
Yokohama, in collaboration with the German Motorsport
Association, will hold the Nordschleife Ladies Cup
this year in a bid to encourage women to take part
in motorsport. With three races, including the 24 Hours of
Nürburgring, and a winner’s prize of€1,000.00 as well as a prize
draw for various other rewards, it’s time for women to show
their speed.
greece
The year was kick-started with a presentation of new
and current products to the Greek Yokohama dealers
and their sales teams. With over 60 people attending
the presentation in Greece, the aim was to strengthen ties within
the Greek
Yokohama
family as
well as
support
and define
targets for
increased
sales
volume in
2008.
spain
Spain: New test track
A new handling track is set to enhance Yokohama‘s tyre
evaluation function in Europe. As of April 2008, Yokohama
can now rely on their brand new test track in Spain, located
70 kilometers south-west of Barcelona.
life
march 2008
Tyres, Technologies & More
Yokohama Rubber exhibited at Auto
China 2008
The Yokohama Rubber Company
was present at the prestigious
Auto China 2008, which ran
from 20 April through 28 April in Beijing, to
increase recognition of the Yokohama brand
in China.
The company has been representing the
name Yokohama with phonograms since
last summer, and will do the same at the
international auto-show for the first time,
where it will exhibit all of its products
available in the Chinese market.
Yokohama partners with
the V-WTCC
For the first time in racing history, the virtual
and real world meet in a highly anticipated
virtual championship: the V-WTCC.
Throughout the year, a series of on-site
events will allow members of the public to
attempt to qualify for the V-WTCC Grand
Finale, which be held at the infamous Monza
race track in Italy.
The V-WTCC experience will be present
at Valencia (Spain), Brno (Czech Republic),
Brands Hatch (UK), Imola (Italy) and Monza
(Italy) WTCC race weekends, allowing race
fans at the track to get their ‘speed’ fix.
Yokohama is represented by the
“Yokohama Independents Trophy”.
If you are not lucky enough to make it
trackside don’t worry you can download
your FREE demo of V-WTCC at
www.v-wtcc.com… may the best driver win!
“Against the watch”
You have seen on TV how the professionals do these ultra-slick and quick pit stops… now the question
is: are you up for the challenge?
Yokohama, together with other
WTCC partners, have created a new fan
experience for 2008, where members of
the public will be timed on how quickly
they can do a Yokohama tyre change.
The pit-stop fan experience will
be present at the following WTCC
race weekends: Valencia (Spain),
Oschersleben (Germany), Brno (Czech
Republic), Brands Hatch (UK) and
Monza (Italy).
The stage will be situated in the main
paddock area, and for the quickest times,
there will be special prizes available… so
get testing!
News in Brief
japan:
Yokohama plants trees for
the ‘forever forest’
Yokohama held its first ‘Yokohama Forever
Forest’ tree-planting ceremony at its
Hiratsuka Factory in Japan. More than
3,500 people, including local residents and
employees of the Yokohama Rubber Group
with their families planted approximately
27,000 seedlings.
Vietnam:
Yokohama Tyre Holds
Opening Ceremony
On 29 February, 2008, The Yokohama
Rubber Company held an opening
ceremony for a new tyre plant that the
company constructed in Binh Duong
Province in the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh
City to begin operation of Yokohama Tyre
Vietnam Inc.
India:
Yokohama acquires new site
near Delhi
The Yokohama Rubber Company signed
an agreement on 10 April 2008, with
Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure
Development Corporation of India, to
acquire a business site of 25 acres (101,250
square meters) in the Corporation’s
Industrial Estate, Bahadurgarh.
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global news
life
march 2008
Tyres, Technologies & More
Geneva Motor Show
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Yokohama exhibited at the 77th Geneva Motor Show in March with notable
success. Alongside the high-performance tyres, as well as our flagship
ADVAN tyres, were a Brabus K8 (based on the Mercedes G-Class) and the
Mach 5 car from the film Speed Racer.
Miss Yokohama Switzerland, Nicole Sauter, greeted visitors on the stand
and special highlights this year included a group of Aero-Jumpers who
brought an even greater energy to the stand!
This year, Yokohama‘s main focus was on our leading tyres, ADVAN. The
ADVAN Sport for super sports cars and the ADVAN S.T. for fast SUVs were
on display beside the Run Flat tyre ADVAN Sport Z.P.S. (Zero Pressure
System), which will soon be launched in the European market. The original
equipment tyres for the Audi S8 (ADVAN Sport) and the winter tyres for the
Bentley Continental and Flying Spur (ADVAN Winter) were also featured.
Yokohama Rubber’s Motorsports Activities in 2008
Yokohama’s motorsport programme for 2008 covers
many different levels of the sport, from grass roots to
the very highest international level, as the company
seeks to ensure success for as many competitors in as
many disciplines as possible.
Viewing motorsports as part of it’s international
development of its global brand ADVAN, the company
will support a number of different motorsports activities
around the world including the FIA World Touring Car
Championship (WTCC), Formula Master, Intercontinental
Rally Challenge (IRC), Le Mans 24 Hours, German F3
Championship and Super GT. Yokohama Rubber will also
support a variety of categories and events at national
level in each market.
The WTCC and Formula Master for which Yokohama
is an official tyre partner is televised by Eurosport
across the world. This provides everyone involved in
racing with the opportunity for highly valued broadcast
exposure, Yokohama included.
To watch the action, tune in for live broadcasts on
Eurosport. Do not panic if you miss a race, you can
catch-up with the highlights by visiting the Yokohama
motorsport section on our new website.
‘YOKOHAMA’ and ‘ADVAN’ Focus on World Touring
to be Corner Names at Car Championship (WTCC)
Nürburgring
The Yokohama name and
Yokohama and the global brand ‘ADVAN’ have been adopted
as corner names at the Nürburgring, Germany, one of the most
well-known racing circuits in Europe which was built in 1927.
The arrangement is for five years starting 01 January 2008.
In addition, signs along a total distance of 400 meters of the
course have been installed. There are also signs at all 29
corners of the Nordschleife, the northern course, and a sign
with the corporate logo ‘YOKOHAMA’ has been placed on
bridges over the track.
that of its tyre brand ADVAN
are synonymous with
success not only on the road
but also in motorsport. You
only need look at the quality
of the championship and the
range of drivers and teams
that stood on the podium
in the 2007 WTCC thanks
to the Yokohama ADVAN
product.
For the third year, the ADVAN brand was selected as control tyre by the FIA
WTCC and the work carried out by the Yokohama development engineers
drew critical acclaim from teams, drivers and engineers alike. Yokohama
ADVAN has been selected as the control tyre for the WTCC for a further two
years, 2008 and 2009. Being chosen as control tyre for one of three FIA world
championships is an incredible accolade and achievement for Yokohama,
and just reward for all the hard work that goes into this project.