It’s been 150 years since the unified Kingdom of Italy was formed, and to mark the occasion Pirelli SpA presented the country’s head of state with a Formula One tire resplendent in the tri-color of Italy’s national flag. 
The presentation took place during a March 19 visit by the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano and his wife to the Italian tiremaker’s new facility in Settimo Torinese, Turin Province.
Escorted by Pirelli chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera and Pirelli Tyre CEO Francesco Gori, Italy’s president toured the new site, which will reach full operational status during the year and be officially inaugurated before the end of 2011. Accompanying Napolitano and Pirelli’s senior management were a number of regional figures, including the president of the Piedmont region, Roberto Cota, the president of the Turin province, Antonio Saitta, the mayor of Settimo Torinese, Aldo Corgiat Loia, the head of Turin’s prefecture, Alberto Di Pace, and the rector of the Politecnico di Torino, Francesco Profumo.
Pirelli has maintained a presence in Settimo Torinese for more than 60 years and today employs more than 1,200 people there. The new facility is based upon the integration of two established Pirelli plants into the one site and draws upon the Pirelli group’s collaboration in research and innovation with local institutions and the Politecnico di Torino.
Pirelli says the plant will be the group’s most technologically advanced and efficient plant in terms of product and production process innovation, as well as in regards to sustainability and the quality of the work environment.
With an initial investment of over 150 million euros, the Settimo facility will run what the tiremaker calls the “most modern technology developed by Pirelli research,” including the latest generation of Pirelli’s robotic tire production system (Next MIRS) and the new compounds’ production system. The plant will produce eco-friendly high performance and UHP tires, and Pirelli says that when fully operational output could exceed 3.5 million tires per annum.
The visit to Settimo Torinese was one of a number of events in and around the city of Turin, which was the nation’s first capital and the city where national unity was proclaimed on March 17, 1861. (Tyres & Accessories)
