Press Release

-Toyo enters joint venture to start truck and bus tire production in 2004-

September 13, 2002 OSAKA, JAPAN , Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (President: Yoshio Kataoka) has agreed to invest in a joint venture company known as "Cheng Shin-Petrel Tire (Xiamen) Co.,Ltd". The present stockholders are Maxxis International Co.,Ltd (located in the Cayman Isles, British West Indies) and Xiamen Petrel Industrial Co.,Ltd (located in Xiamen,). The joint venture is located in Xiamen, China, where it will principally produce radial tires for trucks and buses beginning in 2004. A ground-breaking ceremony was held at the factory site on September 8.

Toyo Tire enters the joint venture by receiving 20 percent of the new company?fs shares from are Maxxis International Co.,Ltd. The Toyo Tire investment will amount to U.S.$10 million. Cheng Shin-Petrel Tire (Xiamen) Co.,Ltd will change its company name to CSTP (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. when the share transfer is completed.

Construction of a tire factory, to begin toward the end of September, will be completed in July 2003. Capital investment totals U.S.$150 million, of which U.S.$130 million is to be invested in the first stage. Operation will start in 2004, with production of 300,000 radial tires for trucks and buses, increasing to an annual target volume of 750,000 tires in 2006. Although production will first focus on tires for trucks and buses, following the second-stage investment of U.S.$20 million, and assuming operation runs according to plan, the plant will also produce radial tires for light trucks.

Profile of Cheng Shin-Petrel Tire (Xiamen) Co.,Ltd 1. Capital: U.S.$50 million
2. Ownership ratio: 90% by Maxxis International Co.,Ltd (an investment company in the Cheng-Shin Rubber Industry Co.,Ltd Group in Taiwan;) 10% by Xiamen Petrel Industrial Co.,Ltd
3. Location: Xiamen, China
4. Site area: 410,000m2
5. Products and production capacity: One million bias tires per year for passenger cars and light trucks 15,000 tires per year for construction machines 12 million tire tubes per year for bicycles
Note: Production of these products will gradually decrease as operation shifts to radial tires for trucks and buses.

6. Establishment: December 28, 2001
7. Operation started: April 2002