Charlotte, NC (March 16, 2007) – General Tire is kicking spring off right with its sponsorship of the “Take It to the MAX!” Sweepstakes and Music Tour 2007.

Celebrating the launch of General’s all new Altimax™ tire, the sweepstakes runs March 15 through June 14, 2007. Grand Prize will be a 2007 Ford Mustang GT and a General Tire Custom Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar.

The first prize winner will receive an all-expenses-paid 3-day/2 night trip and backstage passes to a New York City Concert, plus a General Tire Custom Gibson Les Paul guitar; second prize is a Kicker Car Audio system; third prize is a Sony Playstation 3; and four fourth place winners will receive an iPod Nano.

The Take It to the MAX! Music Tour will feature three of the best unsigned bands in America: Kalifornium, On a Dead Machine and Martyr Reef.

“The revitalization of the General Tire brand stems from an evolution of both mindset and technology that has yielded a reengineered, redesigned and re-energized brand geared toward today’s consumers. This concert is a natural fit for the new General Tire,” said Paul Tecci, Manager of Programs, Promotions and Events, CTNA.

To meet the varying needs of consumers General Tire’s engineers developed the new Altimax powerline to address the many challenges of today’s drivers. The innovative Quad-Tech technology of the Altimax powerline provides a combination of reliability, comfort, traction, and tread life.

Features of Quad-Tech technology include: Visual Alignment Indicators (VAI®), a feature that permits consumers to visually identify tire tracking irregularities so that they can make mechanical vehicle corrections in order to extend the life of the tire; Acoustic Modulation Sound Technology (AMST), a sound wave suppression technology, which works to substantially reduce road tire noise; and Twin Cushion Silica Tread Compound, comprised of high and low density tread, to deliver excellent ride comfort.

Also, available exclusively on the Altimax HP tire is Replacement Tire Monitor Technology (RTM). RTM, a stamp imprinted on the center rib of the tire, reads "Replacement Tire Monitor" when new. As the tread of the tire wears away the stamp changes to read "Replace Tire" and is designed to visually indicate to consumers that a tire change is needed based on tread wear.

For more information on the Take It to the MAX! Sweepstakes and Music Tour 2007, visit http://www.takeittothemaxtour.com/.

For more information visit www.generaltire.com.  General Tire, part of Continental Tire North America, Inc.,  (www.continentaltire.com), based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a group company of Germany-based Continental Corporation, a leading supplier of brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers. In 2005 the corporation realized sales of EUR 13.8 billion (USD 17.2 billion). At present it has a worldwide workforce of about 85,000.