Press Release

OSAKA, JAPAN - October 31, 2008 - Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (President and CEO : Kenji Nakakura) hereby announces that Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. (President: Masaharu Yoshimoto) and Nitto Tire U.S.A. Inc. (President: Tomoshige Mizutani), tire sales subsidiaries of Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. based in the USA, will open exhibits at the 2008 SEMA Show, scheduled to be held from Tuesday, November 4 to Friday, November 7, 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Organized by SEMA (the Specialty Equipment Market Association), the SEMA Show is one of the world's largest trade events for premier automotive specialty products. This year over 2,000 companies in the automotive business are planning to hold exhibits at this annual event and it is expected to attract more than 120,000 industry leaders and buyers from over 100 countries as the limitless opportunities to obtain the various information about the latest products, technology and market trends.

TOYO TIRES and Nitto will each set up their own booths in order to demonstrate their unique brand strategies.

Featured at TOYO TIRES’ booth are 2009 Nissan GT-R equipped with the "PROXES R888" and customized vehicles, equipped with the "PROXES" series - TOYO TIRES’ global brand of ultra high performance tires-and "OPEN COUNTRY M/T" highly rated off-road tires. Other events are also designed to impress visitors with the TOYO TIRES brand’s collective strengths.

At the Nitto's booth, Summer Maximum Performance tire "NT05", which is a hot new item, will come out. Before its distribution from February, 2009, Nitto tire will start its own creative and unique marketing activities, starting with the SEMA Show. At the Renaissance Hotel adjacent Convention Center, an annual huge advertising display in its 3rd year, with a height of 14 meters and a width of 32 meters, showing "NT05" attracts guests. Also, Mercedes-Benz GLK equipped with "NT05" will be exhibited. The Mercedes-Benz, which will be launched from next year, is a pre-production and there are only 4 in the States. In addition to "NT05", the Nitto's booth is dedicated to its flagship lines that are enjoying overwhelming popularity in niche markets for the combination between their high performance and artistic pattern designs such as "INVO". The enhancement of Nitto's brand image as a market-sensitive and innovative brand is most pursued through the exhibit.

TOYO TIRES- and Nitto-brand tires have been the most frequently chosen tires out of over 1,000 vehicles displayed at the annual SEMA Show for nine consecutive years (company's own research).