Upon releasing its 2014 Top 100 Global Innovators list on 6 November, Thomson Reuters commented that its top 100 most innovative companies achieved nearly double the 6.85 per cent annual revenue growth rate of S&P 500 firms while increasing their research and development budgets by an average of 17 per cent year-on-year. One familiar tyre industry name on this list of worthies was Sumitomo Rubber Industries; the company views its inclusion on this year’s list as “further evidence of the great acclaim that we have earned for these and other innovative research and development efforts.” This is the second Top 100 appearance for Sumitomo Rubber Industries in the four years the list has been published – Thomson Reuters also chose to include the company in 2011.