High growth rates in the winter tyre business brought Bridgestone/Firestone a strong 1999 result. Turnover figures were further improved over the previous year, according to the management, with prestige products “WT 12” and “FW 930”. To ensure this is not just a “one-off” success, a new high-performance low-profile tyre, the “Bridgestone RE 040”, already fitted as original equipment on the new BMW Z8, is to be introduced this spring. In the standard tyre segment the “Firestone FH 590” is also expected to convert the company’s 2000 performance into figures. A new departmental structure has been introduced at Bad Homburg to increase work efficiency and customer friendliness. Some divisions, like distribution, logistics and data processing, have been more closely interlinked. In the last few years the OE share has grown considerably so that it now amounts to one third of sales. The independent tyre trade continues to be the basis of the company’s business activities but is supplemented by other distribution channels like cooperatives, regional chains and car franchise firms, whose special requirements are, above all, seen as an opportunity to gain more know-how and to sense the needs of the market even earlier. This year again the whole public relations effort of Bridgestone/Firestone Germany will very consciously be centred round motorsport and Formula One in particular. Previous experience has shown that the manufacturer and its trade partners have benefited from the resulting image transfer to the standard tyre range.