Pirelli Tires

What are Pirelli Tires?

Pirelli Tires was founded in Milan, Italy roughly 140 years ago. At the time, the car wasn’t yet invented, but many people were trying to create better tires for bicycles and the primary mode of transportation: horse carriages!  The tires used on horse carriages at the time were uneven and bumpy, often making for an extremely unpleasant ride.

At the time of its founding, Pirelli Tires was not working on a model for a tire; they were working on the transformation and use of rubber. Pirelli Tires eventually evolved into a rubber derivative company, selling rubber to other companies, which then used it to manufacturer products.

Pirelli Tires later would begin manufacturing their own rubber products. Their first two products were rubber tires and rubber cables. Today, Pirelli Tires still manufactures tires, but they no longer own their cable division, which they recently sold to Goldman Sachs.

Pirelli Tires today is a relatively obscure brand that not many people know about and even fewer buy from. This is probably in part due to low sales volume. It is also due in part to their target audience: drivers who need high-performance tires. Pirelli Tires are often used in races, such as the Rally World Championship.

Since Pirelli Tires are a high-end brand, they have made an attempt to associate themselves with wealth, beauty, and intelligence. They sponsor annual awards for Science and Technology; and also use a number of different models and celebrities to promote their tires.

Celebrities who regularly pose for Pirelli include names such as Jennifer Lopez. And winners of the annual award include such scientists and innovators as Roberto Fieschi, Jurgen Renn, and Marc Ziegler.  The Jurors for the award are generally also celebrities—and often include Nobel Prize winners.

Pirelli Tires