Charlotte, NC (March 27, 2007) –  As part of its overall plan to revitalize the General Tire brand, parent company Continental Tire North America Inc., (CTNA) has introduced a dynamic new logo to represent the brand for both the Passenger / Light Truck and the Commercial Vehicle Tire divisions in the Americas. The new logo symbolizes this re-dedication with bold new type and graphic elements. The mark is comprised of two trademarked elements: the words General Tire accompanied by the “GT” symbol contained in the shield.

“Beginning with the launch of the Grabber & Exclaim UHP tire lines, then followed by the unveiling of the Altimax Arctic two months ago and continuing with the launch of the Altimax RT & HP, this new logo is simply a continuation of the key steps in our revitalization plan for the General Tire Brands,” said Andreas Gerstenberger, Executive Vice President PLT – Sales and Marketing, CTNA.  “The new elements represent our new branding message of Progressive products that are Technology-driven with an emphasis on Reliability.”

Continuing the 90 year tradition of General Tire the new logo retains the dominate red color and the General Tire wording. The best features of the original logo were incorporated into this exciting new logo.  “General Tire has historically been a cornerstone in the Continental Tire portfolio maintaining a prominent market share,” states Tom Roydhouse, Executive Vice President CVT. “This new logo represents a significant milestone in our company’s history and symbolizes the strategic transformation underway for the new General Tire.”

After soliciting many different logo designs from multiple agencies, CTNA contracted Bellomy Research, Inc. of Winston-Salem, NC, to conduct extensive research on these logos among various target market groups.The surveys included all the logo options and overwhelmingly all target markets selected the General GT logo.The research concluded that a new General Tire logo was a key component needed to revitalize the General Tire brand.

As a part of CTNA’s commitment to invigorating the General Tire brand, the company will continue to add a variety of new product offerings, extensive new advertising and promotional campaigns and the consistent branding messages.

For more information visit www.generaltiretruck.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.